1950 Geysir air crash

The 1950 Geysir air crash (Geysisslysið, "the Geysir accident") was a plane crash that occurred on 14 September 1950 when a Douglas C-54 Skymaster, christened Geysir, crashed on the southeastern parts of Bárðarbunga on the Vatnajökull glacier in Iceland. The crew of six survived the crash but had to wait several days until they were found by rescuers and brought off the glacier. The difficulties that arose during the rescue mission directly led to the creations of specialized air rescue units in Iceland.

Crash and rescue

Geysir was owned by Loftleiðir which had initially bought the airplane for international flights with passengers in 1948. Due to the economic conditions in Iceland, Loftleiðir canceled some passenger flights in 1950 and was using this particular aircraft for freight transport for Seaboard & Western Airlines. On 14 September, Geysir was inbound from Luxembourg City with a planned stopover in Reykjavík before heading on to its final destination of New York. En route to Reykjavík, Geysir drifted considerably off course and around 22:50, one of its wings clipped the Bárðarbunga glacial plateau, resulting in the aircraft crash-landing onto the glacier. The crew of six survived the crash but were unable to contact anyone as the plane's radio equipment was destroyed. When Geysir failed to arrive to Reykjavík and no contact could be made, a nationwide search for the plane started. Two and a half days after the crash, the crew managed to reach the emergency transmitter in the plane's rubber liferaft and send out a distress call. It was picked up by the Icelandic Coast Guard vessel Ægir, which was then off Skálar in Langanes. The first message read: "Location unknown, everyone alive." Later messages indicated that the plane had crashed on a glacier and that the crew had heard search planes fly over the crash site the day before. The same day, the search and rescue plane Vestfirðingur found the wreckage and relayed its position. A specially equipped Douglas C-47 Dakota from the United States Air Force was sent from Greenland to aid in the rescue. The Skytrain landed on the glacier and took on the crew of Geysir, but failed several attempts to take-off again. A land based rescue expedition from Akureyri was also organized and reached the crash site the following day, and rescued both crews from the glacier.