Hi Jim
On 3 June 1936 Wever flew from
Berlin to
Dresden, to give a lecture at the
Luftkriegsschule Klotzsche to a gathering of Luftwaffe cadets. When he received the news of the death of a World War I German hero, he immediately set off for Berlin. On his return journey, the
Heinkel He 70 Blitz that he was flying had not been properly examined during preflight checks, and the aileron
gust locks were not removed. The aircraft was airborne when the wing dipped, and the Heinkel
stalled and went into a horizontal cartwheel (akin to a
ground loop, but at low altitude). It crashed and exploded in flames, killing Wever and his flight engineer.