Poor flight discipline by Luftw. pilots ==> high accident rates

[RCnoob]

According to several sources, Luftwaffe pilots often had poor flight discipline, leading to very high rates of accidents. Can anyone point me to more information on this? Particularly the claim at the end that some pilots were executed for violating flight discipline?

And has anyone seen the term "the plague" for this elsewhere?

Here is one discussion:

In this connection, let us return once more to the problem of inadequate flight discipline, a problem which had grown to alarming proportions in the meantime.
The "plague", as it was called by [Göering], had been spreading with frightening rapidity since 1935 and was beginning to assume forms previously unheard-of in military history.
Circumstances beyond anyone's Control which ultimately led to aircraft accidents for which the pilots were in no way to blame are not included in the present discussion. They will be dealt with later on in the study.
The lack of flight discipline which concern the experts from the Inspectorate for air traffic control and equipment, all of whom enjoyed an unusual degree of authority in the accomplishment of their jobs, and the representatives of the military justice tribunals was quite a different thing. Experience showed that it almost always originated in deliberate or careless violation of the principles of flight safety. The most common causes of accidents were the following:

aa) violation of written instructions as to course and route;
BB) inadequate preparations for the mission;
CC) attempting to fly by instruments or to brave bad-weather zones in spite of inadequate training in these fields;
DD) showing off with acrobatics, although this was expressly forbidden;
EE) inadequate checking of performance certificates and flight orders on the part of flight supervisor;
FF) ordering of missions which exceeded student ability on the part of an experience squadron captains and training supervisor;
GG) requiring already weary cruise to fly additional missions in order to complete unit quotas; and
HH) pilots taking over aircraft as fully operational without adequate technical checking.

The personnel and material losses attributable to the factors listed above were so high that they represented a serious threat to the maintenance of operational readiness in the units. From the standpoint, lack of flight discipline was responsible for a genuine crisis.

In spite of warnings, briefing sessions, fines, and more drastic punishments ranging from court sentences to the death penalty, with subsequent dishonorable burial of the victims, it took a very long time before any noticeable improvement occurred.

This is from a 1955 USAF historical report, Technical Training Within the German Luftwaffe, by Werner Kreipe and Rudolf Koester, edited by Karl Gundelach (1955).Numbered USAF Historical Studies 169.

Thanks.

[Primoz]

Originally Posted by RCnoob

CC) attempting to fly by instruments or to brave bad-weather zones in spite of inadequate training in these fields;

This point has nothing to do with poor discipline. German single-seat fighter pilots were not taught how to fly by instruments (they were "fairweather pilots" but they had do fly through clouds etc. in 1944/45).

[ju55dk]

From BAMA Freiburg
"RL 2 II/181


21.08.44 Betref. Tote und Verletzte der Lw. Im Flugbetrieb ohne Feindwirkungen. In der Zeit 01.09.39 bis 30.06.44 verlor die Lw ohne Feindeinwirkung:
24577 mann Fl-Personal und mitfliegenden an toten.
5244 wurde schwer Verletzt.
14095 leicht Verletzt.

25.07.44 Aufruf vom RM Göring zur verhütung von Flz-verlusten ohne Feineinwirkung an:
LfKdo Reich
LfKdo. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 und 10
LwKdo südost
GenKdo. I und II Jagdkorps.
JaFü Norwegen, Oberitalien, Ostpreussen, Oberschlesien, Süd Frankreich, 6, Bretagne und Balkan.
JaAbschnitFüh: Rumänien, Bulgarien, Ostland, Mittelreihn, Ruhrgebiet und Dänemark
Alle Verbände und Schulen."

Junker

[RCnoob]

Originally Posted by Primoz

This point has nothing to do with poor discipline. German single-seat fighter pilots were not taught how to fly by instruments (they were "fairweather pilots" but they had do fly through clouds etc. in 1944/45).

As you say, instrument training was generally weak. But I guess their point is that it is poor discipline to attempt flights beyond your rating. (What we now call "VFR flight into instrument conditions.") If you are ordered on a mission that requires this, it should not count. But their list was apparently a collection of avoidable accidents. As they say, "almost always originated in deliberate or careless violation of the principles of flight safety."

Keep the comments coming. You are making an important point.

[RCnoob]

Originally Posted by ju55dk

From BAMA Freiburg
"RL 2 II/181


21.08.44 Betref. Tote und Verletzte der Lw. Im Flugbetrieb ohne Feindwirkungen. In der Zeit 01.09.39 bis 30.06.44 verlor die Lw ohne Feindeinwirkung:
24577 mann Fl-Personal und mitfliegenden an toten.
5244 wurde schwer Verletzt.
14095 leicht Verletzt.

25.07.44 Aufruf vom RM Göring zur verhütung von Flz-verlusten ohne Feineinwirkung an:
LfKdo Reich
LfKdo. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 und 10
LwKdo südost
GenKdo. I und II Jagdkorps.
JaFü Norwegen, Oberitalien, Ostpreussen, Oberschlesien, Süd Frankreich, 6, Bretagne und Balkan.
JaAbschnitFüh: Rumänien, Bulgarien, Ostland, Mittelreihn, Ruhrgebiet und Dänemark
Alle Verbände und Schulen."

Junker

Junker, this is great. But I don't know the meaning of the source information:
From BAMA Freiburg
"RL 2 II/181
Can you explain? Thanks.
(I'm using Google Translate so I'm probably missing a lot of nuance! )

[ju55dk]

BAMA=Bundesarchiv in Freiburg Germany.

Junker

[RolandF]

Bundesarchiv Abteilung MilitärArchiv Freiburg

http://www.bundesarchiv.de/bundesarc.../index.html.de

[stevehnz]

I wonder how much of these sort of accidents attributed to poor flight discipline could be the result of youthful exuberance and/or lack of judgement. I haven't read much in the way of personal memoirs by Luftwaffe pilots but I can't imagine they were that different to the young men on the allied side & cemeteries around the UK & training airfields in the USA, Canada & other Commonwealth countries associated with the Empire Air Training scheme bear ample witness to the examples "poor flight discipline" of the young men on the allied side.
Steve.

[RCnoob]

Steve - you are 100% correct. Most pilots, and especially fighter pilots, had a huge amount of "youthful exuberance and/or lack of judgement." And it got many of them killed.
So I just finished a comparison of the different air forces in this regard.

• USAAF fighters
• USAAF strategic bombers (B-17s and B-29s)
• RAF
• Luftwaffe
• US Navy

They all did it, but the effects in pilot losses seem to have been worst for the Luftwaffe. The Luftw. even called these losses "the plague" because it killed so many.
My paper is available on my blog, here. I am eager for additional sources and evidence.

[RolandF]

Now I get your point. Most interesting, especially the attitude of the Luftwaffe aces being trained to 50ies jet status after the war.
Looking at the LW loss rates I´m always wondering about the sheer amount of so-called "Bedienungsfehler" as loss reason. The odd behaviour of the Bf 109 during take-off and landing imho can´t exclusively be the reason for those accidents because the otherwise more stable Fw 190 was involved in such accidents, too

Regards

Roland