Light aircraft crashes onto German autobahn near Magdeburg, two killed

In brief

• A light aircraft crashed onto the A2 autobahn near Magdeburg, Germany, on Friday afternoon and burst into flames.
• Two people on board died; rescuers recovered their bodies from the wreckage.
• No vehicles were hit, but the carriageway toward Hanover was closed while investigators work at the scene.

Crash on the A2

A light aircraft came down on the A2 autobahn northeast of Magdeburg in Saxony-Anhalt on Friday, 6 November, shortly before 15:00 local time (Samolot spadł na ruchliwą autostradę. Tragedia w Niemczech – Interia Wydarzenia) (Tragiczny wypadek w Niemczech. Samolot runął na autostradę – TVP Info) (Niemcy. Awionetka rozbiła się na A2 pod Magdeburgiem. Nie żyją dwie osoby – fakt.pl). Police said the plane hit the carriageway and caught fire on impact (Na dálnici v Německu havarovalo malé letadlo. Dvoučlenná posádka nepřežila – iDNES.cz).

Two dead

Rescue crews pulled two bodies from the wreckage. Police confirmed both occupants had died (На автомагістралі у Німеччині розбився літак, двоє людей загинули – Європейська правда). Spokesman Stefan Brodtrück told Czech media that the rescuers had recovered two dead passengers (Na německou dálnici se zřítilo malé letadlo – Novinky.cz). Ukrainian reporting, citing the local fire and civil protection authority, described the victims as a pilot and a passenger. Their identities had not been released in the reports reviewed here (Samolot rozbił się na autostradzie A2. Dramatyczne sceny w Niemczech i wielkie utrudnienia – newmedia24.pl).

Owner and route

The two-seat aircraft is registered to an aero sports club in Kropp, in Schleswig-Holstein. Flight-tracking data cited by Czech media showed it had taken off from an airfield at Schleswig around 12:33 that day. Ukrainian outlets identified the type as an Aerostyle Breezer, a two-seat ultralight. The club declined to comment on the crash.

Traffic and cause

No cars were hit, police said (Malé lietadlo sa zrútilo na nemeckú diaľnicu. Zahynuli dvaja ľudia – Aktuality.sk). The A2 was closed in both directions at first, and later reports said the carriageway toward Hanover remained shut while crews worked at the site. Police said it was not yet clear how the aircraft ended up on the motorway, and the cause is under investigation.