Pan Am Flight 708

Pan Am Flight 708 (PA 708) was a cargo flight that crashed less than 10 mi (16 km) west-southwest of its destination airport, Berlin Tegel in Germany, in the early morning hours of November 15, 1966. The flight was operated by a Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) Boeing 727-21, registration N317PA,[1] name Clipper München, routing from Frankfurt. PA 708 was on initial approach when the accident occurred. All three crew members perished. The cause was undetermined because US investigators were not allowed to survey the impact site near Dallgow in what was then East Germany, and only half of the aircraft remains were returned by Soviet military authorities in East Germany to their US counterparts in erstwhile West Berlin.

Pan Am Flight 708
A Pan Am Boeing 727-21 similar to the accident aircraft
Occurrence
DateNovember 15, 1966
SummaryControlled flight into terrain; cause unknown
SiteNear Berlin, Germany
Aircraft typeBoeing 727-21
Aircraft nameClipper München
OperatorPan American World Airways
RegistrationN317PA
Passengers0
Crew3
Fatalities3
Survivors0

Flight details

Flight 708 usually landed at Tempelhof Airport. But because of runway maintenance at Tempelhof, Pan Am shifted its flights to Tegel Airport. At the time of the accident, weather was poor and it was snowing.

The Soviet authorities returned about 50% of the wreckage. Some major components were not returned, including the flight data and cockpit voice recorders, flight control systems, navigation and communication equipment.

At the time of the crash, the Soviet Union did not belong to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).[2] Nations belonging to ICAO allow reciprocal visits by official observers in order to further aviation safety.

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References
  1. "FAA Registry (N317PA)". Federal Aviation Administration.
  2. Blocked crash site by Soviets berated

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