A Boeing 747 took off from Nairobi International Airport on the morning of November 20, 1974. Its leading edge flaps failed to operate for technical reasons and barely a minute later the aircraft crashed, the tail separating from the fuselage. The wreck caught fire.

Since the aircraft's home base was Frankfurt, a Crisis Management Staff (CMS) was immediately constituted there. As an airline physician, I was requested to evaluate the medical information received from Nairobi and act as medical advisor to the CMS. According to the first rough estimate received, approximately 160 persons were believed to be on board at the time of take-off. By the same estimate, about 100 of these had escaped with their lives, of whom about 60 had been injured. Since there was no accurate information about the availability of adequate medical supplies in Nairobi, I advised the CMS that I should go with a medical staff and equipment to Nairobi. In 1974, the Lufthansa Medical Service in Frankfurt was manned by only three physicians as compared with six at present. Of these three, one was on vacation, one was required to maintain the Medical Service in Frankfurt and only one could be spared to go to the site of the crash.

On arrival in Nairobi, my colleague and I contacted and registered 44 passengers who had been on board: those who had been seriously injured were discovered in local hospitals, others were in hotels and lodgings in the locality.