1948 Gatow Air Disaster - Aftermath

Aftermath

Initially there was a belief that the crash may have been deliberate on the part of the Soviet pilot. General Sir Brian Robertson, the British Military Governor of Germany, immediately went to see his Soviet counterpart, Marshal Vasily Sokolovsky, to protest. Sokolovsky expressed his regret at the incident and assured Robertson that it was not intentional, which Robertson appears to have believed; at any rate, he cancelled his earlier order to provide fighter protection for all British transport aircraft entering or leaving Gatow (the American authorities had issued a similar order, and they too cancelled it).

The British foreign office issued a statement that "A very serious view is taken in London of today's air crash in Berlin." Moreover, British officials felt the Soviet pilot had orders to behave in a provocative manner.

There was also some controversy as to the actions of the Soviets immediately following the crash. RAF fire engines and ambulances were sent from Gatow to the Viking crash site and, although initially allowed into the Soviet Zone, were later asked to leave. A few minutes after the crash Soviet soldiers entered the British Zone and set up a cordon around their crashed fighter. Major-General Herbert, the British Commandant of Berlin, arrived and asked them to leave, but the officer in charge refused. A senior officer arrived later and agreed to the removal of all but a single guard, in return allowing a British guard to be placed over the wreck of the Viking.