Switzerland Misfortune Plane Gauligletscher, 1946 (b/w photo)

The crashed Dakota DC-3 of the US Air Force, on 23 November 1946 on the Gauligletscher. The holes in the snow were caused by aid packages dropped from US Army aircraft. The stroke “Fini” comes from the pilot Ralph H. Tate. He tried to stop the package drops, which endangered the inmates of the Dakota. The machine, on its way from Munich to Marseille, disappears from the radar screens in the Alps on 19 November 1946. Only after three days the crashed plane will be located on the Gauligletscher in the Haslital. Rescue teams start the rescue operation from Rosenlaui near Meiringen. After 13 hours they reach the machine. All passengers survived the crash and will be flown into the valley on November 24 by Swiss military pilots Victor Hug and Pista Hitz in “Fieseler Storch” aircraft.