Karl was a pilot in the Luftwaffe. His rank was Unteroffizier. He served with a weather reconnaissance unit (Wekusta 2). Their mission consisted of 10 hour flights above the Atlantic Ocean to ascertain the weather conditions and report them to Luftwaffe Command for preparation of future air operations. Karl’s first operational mission onboard the Heinkel 177 was on July 18th 1944.
Four days later on the morning of July 22nd they were ordered to return to the seas off Ireland. Karl and 5 other crewmen took off down the runway at Mont-de-Marsan. Immediately after liftoff one of the engines burst into flames. Karl attempted to turn the plane around and head back to the runway but was slowly losing control of the aircraft. The plane, which was carrying around thirteen tons of aviation fuel, went down in a forest about 5km northwest of the runway. The crash immediately killed all 6 crewmen onboard as well as causing an intense fire that lasted until the next day. The 6 crewmen were
Pilot- Karl Labmayer
Chief Meteorologist- Walter Küspert
Radio Operator- Siegfried Mattausch
Mechanic- Heinz Lehmann
Gunner- Manfred Rehm
Gunner- Siegfried Tritschler
The He 177 was often referred to as “The flying Coffin” and “Luftwaffenfeuerzeug (Luftwaffe’s Lighter)” as the aircraft’s engines would frequently catch fire. Luftwaffe pilots famously hated the aircraft. Included in the post is a photo of an He 177. If you’d like to read a sort of synopsis of the events that happened you can view this link.
https://aerocherche.fr/pdf/He177%20GB.DOC.pdf
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