Photos of aircraft accidents and emergency landings: § 201a StGB, the gawker ban and ethics

An Airbus touches down, the airport fire department’s trucks are already waiting at the edge of the runway, smoke rises from the landing gear. For spotters, this is a moment when the hand goes to the camera almost by reflex. This is exactly where a short stop is worthwhile. Photos of aircraft accidents and emergency landings are a special case, legally and morally: since the gawker reform, § 201a StGB expressly protects deceased people too, and obstructing helpers is punishable in its own right. This article shows what is allowed, where the line runs and how to behave as a spotter when the unexpected happens.

The short answer

An aircraft that taxis off the runway after a precautionary landing with a fire department escort can generally be photographed from a public area. But as soon as people in a helpless situation are in the picture – injured people, evacuees on the grass, victims in shock – or even dead people, the photographing itself can be a crime. And anyone who stands in the way of helpers to get a better angle also risks criminal proceedings.

Whether you may stand at the fence at all is a different question, answered in the overview Is plane spotting allowed? and in the article on the airport operator’s house rules. How to behave in practice when you witness an incident is covered in depth by the guide Witnessing an emergency landing or incident. This article is about the images.

An emergency landing is not the same as an accident

In everyday spotting, very different events fall under the heading “emergency landing.” For the question of photos, it helps to keep them apart:

• Precautionary landing or return to the departure airport. A technical problem, a medical emergency on board or a warning light: the crew declares an emergency, and on the flight tracker you often see the code 7700 (more in the article on the squawk codes 7500, 7600 and 7700). The fire department drives to the runway as a precaution, the aircraft lands normally and taxis to the gate or stops briefly for an inspection.
• Incident with visible effects. A burst tire, smoke from a brake, evacuation via emergency slides. Here people who are frightened, injured or in shock quickly end up in the picture.
• Accident with serious consequences. An aircraft off the runway, debris, fire, injured or dead people. In this case, every image with people is highly sensitive.

The legal line does not run along these categories but along the question: Does your picture show people in a situation in which they cannot protect themselves? In a precautionary landing, the answer is usually no; in an evacuation, often yes.

What § 201a StGB prohibits

§ 201a StGB is headed “Violation of the most personal sphere of life and of personality rights by image recordings.” Two cases are mainly relevant for accident situations:

1. Displaying helplessness. It is a crime to make or transmit, without authorization, an image that shows another person’s helplessness and thereby violate their most personal sphere of life. This means, for example, people who are injured, unconscious or otherwise unable to evade the camera after an accident.
2. Displaying the deceased in a grossly offensive manner. Unauthorized images that show a deceased person in a grossly offensive manner are also a crime.

In addition, the provision also covers using such images and making them accessible to third parties. Anyone who did not take a picture themselves but forwards it in a group can therefore be affected as well.

The gawker reform of 2021

Until the end of 2020, § 201a StGB protected only living people. That led to the absurd situation that photos of killed accident victims were barely prosecutable. With the 59th Act Amending the Criminal Code – “Improving the protection of personality rights in image recordings” – the legislature closed this gap. The new version has applied since January 1, 2021.

Penalty and confiscation

The penalty is up to two years in prison or a fine. Important for photographers: under § 201a para. 5 StGB, image carriers, image recording devices and other technical means the offender used can be confiscated. In the worst case, it is therefore not just about a file but about camera, lens and memory card. How a seizure works and which rights you have is described in the article Camera or memory card seized.

The exception: overriding legitimate interests

§ 201a para. 4 StGB exempts actions that serve overriding legitimate interests – examples named include art, science, research, teaching and reporting on current events or history. This is not a special rule for press passes but a balancing test. There is a public interest in the event: which aircraft, which airline, what happened? That almost never requires an image in which an injured person is identifiable.

Gawking and obstructing: § 323c para. 2 StGB

The second big topic is not the picture but your behavior. Since May 30, 2017, § 323c para. 2 StGB has expressly punished anyone who, at accidents, public danger or distress, obstructs a person who is helping or wants to help someone else. The penalty is the same as for failure to render assistance: up to one year in prison or a fine.

For spotters, that means specifically:

• Don’t block access routes. Your car on the dirt track or at the approach to the airport fence can, in an emergency, be standing exactly where the fire department and ambulance need to get through.
• Don’t enter the response area. For accidents outside the airport grounds – for example in the approach area – there is no fence to stop you. That makes distance all the more important.
• Follow instructions immediately. If the police or emergency personnel send you away, you leave. You can argue about the legal situation later.

If violence is used or threatened, § 115 para. 3 StGB additionally comes into play, which protects those providing help from the fire department, civil protection, ambulance service, a medical emergency service and an emergency room. Alongside that are orders to leave, bans from premises and administrative offenses – see Order to leave and ban from the airport.

And the flip side: anyone who is first at a disaster and could help but films instead can be liable for failure to render assistance under § 323c para. 1 StGB – provided help is necessary and reasonable. At an airport, rescue personnel are usually on site within minutes; in an accident in open terrain, it can look different.

Typical situations and how to classify them

The table is a rough guide, not a legal assessment. But it shows that in almost every situation there is a defensible way to photograph.

Situation	People in the picture?	Assessment
Precautionary landing, fire trucks driving alongside the jet	no, only vehicles	Green – aircraft and emergency vehicles from a distance
Aircraft stands on the runway, fire crew inspects the landing gear	emergency personnel small in the frame	Green to yellow – wide shot yes, portraits of helpers no
Evacuation via emergency slides, passengers on the grass	yes, in an exceptional situation	Red for identifiable people – helplessness is likely
Injured people are being treated	yes	Red – even photographing can be a crime
Wreck or debris without people, from a long distance	no	Yellow – restrained, without speculation
Wreckage with identifiable deceased	yes	Taboo – § 201a para. 1 no. 3 StGB
Parked, damaged aircraft days later	no	Green – documentation of the aircraft

The difference almost always lies in whether you are photographing the aircraft or the people. How to keep people out of the frame in general is covered in the article People in spotter photos.

The right to one’s own image and victim protection

Even if an image does not fall under § 201a StGB in criminal law, the civil-law personality right remains. Under the Art Copyright Act (Kunsturhebergesetz), you generally need consent to publish an identifiable portrait. There is an exception for portraits from the sphere of contemporary history – and an aircraft accident can be an event of contemporary history. This exception does not apply, however, if the legitimate interests of the people depicted are violated. Anyone who shows a person at the moment of their greatest suffering will, as a rule, violate those interests.

A good yardstick is the Press Code of the German Press Council, even though it is aimed at newsrooms. It requires that reporting on accidents respect the victims’ suffering and the feelings of their relatives, and states in essence that those affected should not become victims a second time through the depiction. According to it, names and photos of victims come into question only with the consent of the victim or relatives, except for public figures. If even professionals bind themselves this way, there is no reason for hobby photographers to be looser.

The ethical side: why restraint is part of the hobby

Spotters live on access to fences, hills and observation decks. That access rests on the trust of airports, authorities and residents. Images that go around social networks after a disaster and show those affected damage this trust lastingly – for the whole scene.

Add to that a few simple considerations:

• Relatives may learn about it from you. A picture with registration and airline, posted minutes after an accident, can reach families before the authorities do.
• Speculation hurts. Captions like “Pilot error?” are not only unfair to the crew, they also prejudge the accident investigation.
• The internet doesn’t forget. What you share in the excitement can hardly be taken back, even if you delete it after an hour.
• History shows what is at stake. Major disasters like the Ramstein air show disaster of 1988 have shown how long the pictures of a single day linger – with survivors, relatives and helpers.

Your images for the accident investigation

There is one case in which your pictures are truly valuable: as material for the investigation. In Germany, the Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation (BFU) in Braunschweig is responsible for accidents and serious incidents; it can be reached around the clock for reports at +49 531 3548-0. Reporting is mainly required of those involved, such as the crew, operators, air traffic control and maintenance – nevertheless, images of the approach, the touchdown or the sequence of an incident can be helpful to investigators.

Here is how to proceed sensibly:

1. Secure the original files. Don’t edit anything, don’t crop anything. EXIF data with the time is important for reconstruction – how to check it is explained in the guide to metadata for aircraft photos.
2. Get in touch instead of posting. Offer the material to the responsible agency or the police on site.
3. Don’t spread it further. What serves the investigation doesn’t need to circulate in messenger groups at the same time.

If the security staff on site demand that you delete images, they usually have no authority to do so – what they may and may not do is explained in the article Do I have to delete photos if security asks me to?. For images that could fall under § 201a StGB, however, things look different with regard to the police. How such a conversation typically goes is described in the guide Police check while spotting.

Social media and group chats

The most critical moment usually comes not when you press the shutter but minutes later on your smartphone. A few principles:

• Wait. The first minutes after an event belong to the emergency personnel and the relatives, not the feeds.
• Check every picture at full size. People who look tiny in the preview are often clearly identifiable in the full view.
• Don’t forward anything you wouldn’t post yourself. Making other people’s images accessible can also fall under § 201a StGB.
• Write neutrally. Type, registration, airport, time – no causes, no blame.

This applies especially to platforms like Instagram or TikTok and other short-video formats, because content there gains a large reach in a short time. Many platforms also have their own policies on disturbing content.

What you do on site

If you witness an incident, a simple sequence helps:

1. Check the emergency call. At an airport, the fire department is usually already on its way. For an event outside the grounds, you call 112.
2. Keep your distance and clear the way. Move your vehicle if it blocks an access route. Which vehicles the airport fire department uses and how it is organized is covered in the article on the airport fire department.
3. Lower the camera when people are affected. You can still photograph the aircraft later, but you can’t take back the dignity of those affected.
4. Stay calm when approached. Police and security are tense in such a situation. Cooperating helps you more than any debate.

Spotter culture also includes speaking to fellow spotters who overstep. More on this in the spotter etiquette.

Conclusion

Emergency landings and accidents are among the rare moments when spotters become witnesses to aviation history. That is exactly why restraint is called for. Since 2021, criminal law has drawn a clear line: photographing helpless and deceased people in a demeaning way can be a crime, and so can obstructing helpers. The aircraft, the emergency vehicles and the scene from a distance remain documentable – with neutral text, without speculation and without rushing to post.