请输入您要查询的百科知识:

 

词条 1946 C-53 Skytrooper crash on the Gauli Glacier
释义

  1. Flight

  2. Search

  3. Rescue

  4. Aftermath

  5. References

  6. External links

{{short description|1946 aviation accident}}{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2013}}{{Infobox aircraft occurrence
|name = Gauli Glacier C-53 Skytrooper crash
|occurrence_type = Accident
|image = OH-LCH at EFJM 20110717 01.jpg
|image_size = 250px
|alt =
|caption = A Douglas C-47C Skytrain similar to the accident aircraft
|date = 18 November 1946
|type = Weather related Controlled Flight Into Terrain
|site = Gauli Glacier
|coordinates =
|total_injuries =
|total_fatalities =
|total_survivors =
|aircraft_type = Douglas C-53D Skytrooper
|aircraft_name =
|operator = United States Air Force (USAF)
|tail_number = 42-68846
|origin = Tulln (near Vienna (Austria)
|stopover = Munich (Germany)
|stopover0 = Strasbourg (France)
|stopover1 = Dijon (France)
|stopover2 =
|stopover3 =
|last_stopover = Marseille-Istres (France)
|destination = Pisa (Italy)
|passengers = 8
|crew = 4
|injuries = several
|fatalities = 0
|survivors = 12
|plane1_image =
|plane1_alt =
|plane1_caption =
|plane1_type =
|plane1_name =
|plane1_operator =
|plane1_tailnum =
|plane1_origin =
|plane1_stopover =
|plane1_stopover0 =
|plane1_stopover1 =
|plane1_stopover2 =
|plane1_stopover3 =
|plane1_laststopover =
|plane1_destination =
|plane1_passengers =
|plane1_crew =
|plane1_injuries =
|plane1_fatalities =
|plane1_survivors =
|plane2_image =
|plane2_alt =
|plane2_caption =
|plane2_type =
|plane2_name =
|plane2_operator =
|plane2_tailnum =
|plane2_origin =
|plane2_stopover =
|plane2_stopover0 =
|plane2_stopover1 =
|plane2_stopover2 =
|plane2_stopover3 =
|plane2_laststopover =
|plane2_destination =
|plane2_passengers =
|plane2_crew =
|plane2_injuries =
|plane2_fatalities =
|plane2_survivors =
|plane3_image =
|plane3_alt =
|plane3_caption =
|plane3_type =
|plane3_name =
|plane3_operator =
|plane3_tailnum =
|plane3_origin =
|plane3_stopover =
|plane3_stopover0 =
|plane3_stopover1 =
|plane3_stopover2 =
|plane3_stopover3 =
|plane3_laststopover =
|plane3_destination =
|plane3_passengers =
|plane3_crew =
|plane3_injuries =
|plane3_fatalities =
|plane3_survivors =
}}

The C-53 Crash on the Gauli Glacier in the Bernese Alps, (Switzerland) on 19 November 1946 was a turning point in alpine rescue and an international media event. The aircraft, coming from Tulln, Austria (near Vienna), bound for Pisa, Italy, collided with the Gauli Glacier in poor visibility. On board were eight passengers (among them two high-ranking officers of the U.S. armed forces, four women and one 11-year-old girl) and four crew. Several people were injured, but there were no fatalities.

Flight

On 18 November 1946 the C-53 Skytrooper military transport aircraft, (serial no. 42-68846) – a military, passenger-only, variant of the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner – took off from Tulln Air Base near Vienna, Austria, bound for Pisa, Italy. The route planning was affected by bad weather, so they chose a route (950 km) via Munich, Strasbourg, Dijon and Marseille-Istres, to arrive in Pisa two days later.

Having already avoided several alpine peaks in instrument meteorological conditions, near Innsbruck, the crew became disoriented, and on 18 November at 2.45 PM, the aircraft crash-landed on the Gauli Glacier with a speed of {{convert|174|mph|km/h|abbr=on|0}} at an altitude of {{convert|10990|ft|m|abbr=on|0}} because of the sudden onset of a Katabatic wind, the aircraft sliding over ice and snow upwards, slowing down rapidly.

Search

The crew thought the aircraft had crashed in the French Alps. An hour after the crash, the crew was able to send emergency radio messages which were received at Orly Airport and at the Istres-Le Tubé Air Base near Marseille, tri-angulating their position in the Airolo-Sion-Jungfrau triangle. A large search and rescue operation began immediately.

Two days later, the control tower at Swiss Air Force Base Meiringen, {{convert|12.7|km|mi|abbr=on|0}} away, received their radio calls, giving a new radio bearing, narrowing the search area to the Gauli Glacier.

At 0931 hours on 22 November an RAF Lancaster, piloted by F/L G. Head, spotted the aircraft through a break in the cloud cover. The crew managed to plot the location by using radio plots. Later that day when the clouds cleared, search aircraft were sent to this location.

A Boeing B-29 Superfortress sighted the aircraft by chance from an altitude of {{convert|16000|ft|km|abbr=on|0}} whilst en route to Munich, later confirmed by the crew of a Swiss Air Force (SwAF) EKW C-36.

Rescue

After the accident location was known, a large alpine rescue operation was begun. The United States Army (US Army) arrived on a train carrying equipment in Interlaken, where the normal gauge railway track ends. The U.S. response units were equipped with Willys MB jeeps and snowcats (some accounts describe the "snowcats" as being the amphibious-hulled versions of the American M29 Weasel[1] tracked vehicles)[2] but these were potentially useless in the alpine conditions (despite their intended design for wintertime use). The potentially cumbersome use of military gliders was contemplated but was not considered further,{{Citation needed|reason=No source given for fact=June 2014|date=June 2014}} so rescue teams had to proceed on foot.

On 23 November at 2:20 PM, two Swiss soldiers on skis reached the stricken aircraft and its passengers after a 13-hour ascent from Innertkirchen, but as it was too late for a descent on the same day, it was decided to wait at the wreck over night, enduring temperatures of {{convert|-15|°C|°F|abbr=on|0}}. The next day, everyone descended towards the Alpine Club's Gauli hut at {{convert|7234|ft|m|abbr=on|0}}, failing to make radio contact with the coordinators in the valley. At 10.20 AM, SwAF pilots Captain Victor Hug and Major Pista Hitz, managed to land two Fieseler Storch aircraft on the glacier beside the rescuers, and with eight flights, everyone was flown to safety. The Swiss army had tested snow landings and starts during the winter of 1944/45.[3]

Aftermath

After World War II, the diplomatic relationship between Switzerland and the United States was uncertain. But after the successful rescue, the political climate improved, in part because the rescue work was prominently covered by the international media.

The rescue operation would have repercussions a decade later when the Swiss were asked to support the rescue and salvage efforts after the 1956 Grand Canyon mid-air collision.{{citation needed|date=January 2016}}

A more lasting impact of the incident was that the rescue of aircraft passengers in alpine terrain became seriously considered by authorities. The crash on the Gauli glacier is seen as the birth of Swiss air rescue, and in 1952, the Swiss Air Rescue Guard (Rega) was founded.

In 2012 & in 2018[4] remains of the machine that crashed in 1946 emerged on the Gauli Glacier, and subsequently the Swiss Army has been working to recover the wreck and clean up the site.[5][6]

References

This article is a translation of the German Wikipedia article (version 10 February 2012).

1. ^{{cite AV media |people= |year= |title=simvid 1 |trans-title=|medium=YouTube |language=German|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDsrpz4NiwE#t=66 |accessdate=April 5, 2014 |archiveurl=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDsrpz4NiwE#t=66 |archivedate=January 8, 2013 |format=YouTube |time=6:03 to 6:06 |location= |publisher=Neue Zürcher Zeitung |id= |isbn= |oclc= |quote="1946 C-47 Skytrain crash on the Gauli Glacier." |editor=TheGluetothetube |ref= }}
2. ^{{cite web |url=http://www.milhist.net/88/swiss.html |title=150 88th Div. Men Enter Switz. As Rescue Party — All Passengers Survive Plane Crash — Swiss Troops Effect Rescue |last=Crandell |first=Hy |date= |website=milhist.net |publisher=Military History Network |accessdate=March 6, 2014}}
3. ^Roger Cornioley: section 'Schneelandungen der Schweizer Flugwaffe im Hochgebirge' (pdf) (p. 27+28)
4. ^{{cite web |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/switzerland-melting-glacier-uncovers-wwii-plane-c53-skytrooper-dakota-that-crash-landed-72-years-ago-2018-08-17/ |title=Melting glacier uncovers U.S. WWII plane that crash-landed in Switzerland in 1946 |author= |date=August 17, 2018 |website=cbsnews.com |publisher=CBS/Associated Press |access-date=August 18, 2018 |quote=A heatwave in Switzerland has uncovered the wreckage debris of an American World War II plane that crash-landed in the Bernese Alps 72 years ago. The C-53 Skytrooper Dakota was traveling from Austria to Italy when it collided with the Gauli Glacier at an altitude of 10,990 feet on November 19, 1946...In 2012, three young people discovered the plane's propeller on the glacier. As the glacier continued to melt, the scene reportedly now looks like a field covered in plane debris.}}
5. ^[https://www.lematin.ch/suisse/72-ans-epave-dun-dc53-ressurgit-glacier/story/16589695 Le Matin website account of the discovery (in French)]
6. ^{{Cite news|url=https://www.nieuwsblad.be/cnt/dmf20180917_03749997?pid=7433130|title=Een koud kunstje: Zwitsers leger ruimt wrak dat 72 jaar onder het ijs lag|last=mtm|work=Het Nieuwsblad|access-date=2018-09-17|language=nl-BE}}

External links

  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20110820181347/http://www.gletscherflug.ch/history.htm A summary on the accident and rescue, with some pictures.]
  • An image of the crashed C-47 can be found on this page
  • [https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=de&sl=de&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.tagesanzeiger.ch%2Fwissen%2Fgeschichte%2FGletscher-gibt-Wrackteile-der-Dakota-frei%2Fstory%2F21862266 Glacier releases wreckage of the Dakota], Tages-Anzeiger september 19th 2015.
{{Aviation accidents and incidents in Switzerland}}{{Aviation accidents and incidents in 1946}}{{DEFAULTSORT:C-47 Skytrain crash on the Gauli Glacier}}

5 : Aviation accidents and incidents in 1946|Aviation accidents and incidents in Switzerland|Accidents and incidents involving the Douglas C-47 Skytrain|Accidents and incidents involving United States Air Force aircraft|1946 in Switzerland

随便看

 

开放百科全书收录14589846条英语、德语、日语等多语种百科知识,基本涵盖了大多数领域的百科知识,是一部内容自由、开放的电子版国际百科全书。

 

Copyright © 2023 OENC.NET All Rights Reserved
京ICP备2021023879号 更新时间:2024/11/14 18:19:19