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1951 Glitfaxi plane crash

31 Jan 1951 · Faxaflói, Iceland

Flugfélag Íslands Douglas DC-3 · Crashed into water, cause undetermined

From Vestmannaeyjar to Reykjavík Domestic Airport (RKV)

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Event

Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
Accident
Event fatalities
20 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
Unknown
Occupants
Unknown
Survivors
0
InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
Unknown
OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
Airline

Douglas DC-3

Aircraft type
Douglas DC-3
Category
Airplane · from aircraft type
RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
TF-ISG
Onboard fatalities
20
Route
From VestmannaeyjarTo Reykjavík Domestic Airport (RKV)

Not plotted · Not plotted: the Wikipedia article gives no coordinates, and its site names no town or airport that matches exactly.

From the Wikipedia article

The 1951 Flugfélag Íslands DC-3 crash (Icelandic: Glitfaxaslysið, "the Glitfaxi accident") was a plane crash that occurred on 31 January 1951 when a Douglas DC-3 from Flugfélag Íslands, christened Glitfaxi, crashed in Faxaflói in Iceland, killing all 20 people aboard. It remains the second deadliest air crash in Iceland behind the 1947 Héðinsfjörður air crash.

The plane was attempting to land at Reykjavík airport during heavy snowfall. Its first attempt to land was aborted due to low visibility. During its second attempt, all contact was lost with the plane. After it became clear that Glitfaxi had disappeared, a search immediately began. The following days, both land, sea and air searches were conducted including by the ICGV Ægir and the herring vessel Fanney that searched the area with depth sounders. While several items belonging to the plane were found in the ocean, the wreck itself was never officially found.

Text from the Wikipedia article “1951 Glitfaxi plane crash” (revision 1339307383, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article

Sources

Wikipedia article: 1951 Glitfaxi plane crash
Article
1951 Glitfaxi plane crash
Revision
1339307383 · 2026-02-19 · retrieved 2026-09-18
Wikidata
Q16425232
Licence
Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
Record
Wikipedia article "1951 Glitfaxi plane crash" (page 71372592, revision 1339307383)
Date
Wikipedia infobox: date
Place and country
Wikipedia infobox: site
Map position
none
Aircraft, operator and route
Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
Operation
operator is an airline according to Wikidata
Fatalities
Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
Ground fatalities
not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
Summary
Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
  • Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.