20 December 1986 · Aircraft and balloons
Failed motorised hang-glider escape near Potsdam
A 37-year-old toolmaker took off in a home-built motorised hang glider towards West Berlin, but darkness, cold and disorientation forced him down in the GDR.
A 37-year-old toolmaker and master engineer who was an experienced hang-glider pilot built himself a motorised hang glider in order to fly to West Berlin, about six kilometres away.
On the evening of 20 December 1986 he took off near Fahrland, close to Potsdam. Poor visibility, problems finding his way and the cold forced him to land again on East German territory north of Berlin. Local people who had seen the flight alerted the police, and he was handed over to the Stasi.
He was held in the Stasi prison in Potsdam and then in Berlin-Pankow, and in May 1987 he was sentenced to two years and ten months. Four months later he was released under an amnesty, and by December 1987 he and his family had moved to West Germany.
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