The 1973 crash of a Soviet jet fighter near Braunschweig
On May 27, 1973, a Soviet Army jet fighter crashed near Braunschweig not far from the village of Klein Schöppenstedt around noon.
The aircraft, a "Sukhoi SU-7 BM", hit the ground just before the Bundesstraße 1 next to a recreation area at the edge of the Bundeswehr training area Hötzum "Herzogberge".
One person went down not far from the site firing range Hötzum on the parachute. She was slightly injured.
The aircraft was smashed in the crash.
The pilot, a Soviet lieutenant, had taken off with the SU-7 BM in the east of the GDR.
The aircraft, a "Sukhoi SU-7 BM", hit the ground just before the Bundesstraße 1 next to a recreation area at the edge of the Bundeswehr training area Hötzum "Herzogberge".
One person went down not far from the site firing range Hötzum on the parachute. She was slightly injured.
The aircraft was smashed in the crash.
The pilot, a Soviet lieutenant, had taken off with the SU-7 BM in the east of the GDR.
Officer Yevgeny Lvoych, born in 1950, belonged to the 497th Guards Fighter Bomb Squadron of the Soviet Army stationed near Großenhain, near Dresden in the GDR. He had deserted.
The fugitive had not been a pilot, however, but only a technician with a taxiing license. On a flight simulator, he had acquired the skills to take off in several hours of training.
He had flown west with the simplest of charts. Since he did not master the landing, he had circled over the location training area "Herzogberge" so long, until the tanks were empty. Then he brought the plane down in a controlled manner and catapulted himself out of his plane near Braunschweig at about 11:47 a.m.
Allies, police, Kripo and military police as well as an officer of the RAF secured the accident site afterwards.
Using an armored crane, soldiers of the Bundeswehr recovered the wreckage of the "Sukhoi SU-7 BM" the next day and brought it to the "Hindenburg Barracks" in Braunschweig..
The fugitive had not been a pilot, however, but only a technician with a taxiing license. On a flight simulator, he had acquired the skills to take off in several hours of training.
He had flown west with the simplest of charts. Since he did not master the landing, he had circled over the location training area "Herzogberge" so long, until the tanks were empty. Then he brought the plane down in a controlled manner and catapulted himself out of his plane near Braunschweig at about 11:47 a.m.
Allies, police, Kripo and military police as well as an officer of the RAF secured the accident site afterwards.
Using an armored crane, soldiers of the Bundeswehr recovered the wreckage of the "Sukhoi SU-7 BM" the next day and brought it to the "Hindenburg Barracks" in Braunschweig..
Experts from Braunschweig "cataloged" the remains of the crashed jet fighter. Soviet generals, however, demanded the surrender of the wreckage of the aircraft with the factory number 5411 and board number 52.
On May 30, 1973, the wreckage was transferred to Soviet vehicles in the parking lot at the Helmstedt checkpoint on the federal highway and taken away.
After weeks of interrogation by Western military and intelligence agencies, the pilot's trail was lost.
For the first time, details about the handling of tactical nuclear weapons were revealed. How little knowledge the Federal Intelligence Service obviously had up to that point about Soviet nuclear weapons in the GDR was evident from the résumé on the details of the interrogation at that time.
On May 30, 1973, the wreckage was transferred to Soviet vehicles in the parking lot at the Helmstedt checkpoint on the federal highway and taken away.
After weeks of interrogation by Western military and intelligence agencies, the pilot's trail was lost.
For the first time, details about the handling of tactical nuclear weapons were revealed. How little knowledge the Federal Intelligence Service obviously had up to that point about Soviet nuclear weapons in the GDR was evident from the résumé on the details of the interrogation at that time.
by Manfed Rassau 2020
Sources:
Internet newspaper archive
Skystormers, Lutz Freund, p. 86 ff
Sources:
Internet newspaper archive
Skystormers, Lutz Freund, p. 86 ff