Plane crash on Biferten
| Plane crash on Biferten | |
|---|---|
| Accident summary | |
| Accident type | CFIT |
| place | Glarus Alps , Switzerland |
| date | July 24, 1966 |
| Fatalities | 3 |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Injured | 0 |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Piper PA-18 |
| operator | Swiss Air Rescue |
| Mark | HB-OLB |
| Departure airport | Mollis military airfield |
| Destination airport | Hüfigletscher |
| Passengers | 2 |
| crew | 1 |
| Lists of aviation accidents | |
The plane crash on Biferten occurred on July 24, 1966 in the Glarus Alps .
procedure
On the occasion of the renovation of the high-alpine Planurahütte of the Swiss Alpine Club , members of the Näfels rescue team did compulsory work. The mountain pilot Rolf Fumasoli made himself available to carry out transports from Mollis to the Hüfigletscher near the hut with a Piper PA-18 from the Swiss Air Rescue Service .
The HB-OLB aircraft with two passengers took off from Mollis at 2:15 p.m. and crashed into a rock face between the Bifertenstock and the Tödi at an altitude of 3200 m . After sliding off the steep face, the wreck came to lie around 600 meters lower on the Bifertenfirn underneath and was covered with snow by an avalanche triggered by this fall . All three aircraft occupants were fatally injured.
After two days of searching under difficult weather conditions in a 3000 km 2 search area, the wreck was located by an Alouette III army helicopter at this point that did not correspond to the direct route. Only one sleeve of a red jacket had been seen instead of an entire wreck. However, the Piper pilot had already flown on this route on the first flight of the unlucky day because of the weather.
The presence of a second passenger in the accident machine was not permitted; it is not known whether this fact contributed to the accident. A downdraft was mentioned as a possible cause , as is common with a mountain ridge when there is wind.
literature
- Madeleine Kuhn-Baer: 50 years ago: tragic aircraft accident in the deadly area . In: Glarner Woche, Glarus Süd edition , July 13, 2016, pp. 1–3.
- Fridolin Hauser: Tragedy 40 Years Ago or Black Sunday on the Biferten. In: Fridolin , July 20, 2006, pp. 1 and 3.
- Toedi: Les victimes identifiées. In: Le Peuple / La Sentinelle, édition Neuchâtel / Jura , July 28, 1966, p. 1.
- Les cadavres des trois passagers du "Piper" zurichois découverts. In: Nouvelliste du Rhône , July 28, 1966, p. 13.
- The corps des passagers de l'avion du Tœdi ramenés dans la vallée. In: Feuille d'Avis de Neuchâtel , July 28, 1966, p. 15.