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Salerno accident

18 Nov 1947 · Salerno, Italy

Trafik-Turist-Transportflyg Bristol 170 Freighter · Controlled flight into terrain in poor visibility

From Addis Ababa to Stockholm

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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
21 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
Unknown
Occupants
Unknown
Survivors
4
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
4
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
Charter & commuter

Bristol 170 Freighter

Aircraft type
Bristol 170
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
SE-BNG
Onboard fatalities
21
Route
From Addis AbabaTo Stockholm

Approximate · Estimated position: Salerno, the place the Wikipedia article names. Not the accident site.

From the Wikipedia article

The Salerno accident was an aircraft crash that took place on 18 November 1947 in Italy. A transport aircraft of the type Bristol 170 Freighter had been chartered by the Swedish Air Force to transport home 21 air force officers and aircraft technicians who had delivered bombers that had been sold to the Ethiopian state. On a leg from Catania to Rome the aircraft went off course for an unknown reason and crashed into the mountain Santa Maria del Monte in Ravello west of Salerno. In addition to the 21 passengers, there were 4 crew members on board. 21 people were killed in the accident, including one who survived the impact but died later of his injuries. 3 of the officers and the aircraft's captain survived the accident.

A memorial stone dedicated to those who were killed is located on Via Vincenzo Amato in Scala, a community on the Amalfi Coast near where the accident occurred.

The Salerno accident has been described as the largest single disaster that has struck the Swedish Air Force.

Translated into English with AI assistance from the Swedish Wikipedia article “Salerno-olyckan” (revision 59660761, retrieved 2026-09-19) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out; the translation may contain errors, and long articles were cut to their first 700 words. Read the article

Sources

Swedish Wikipedia article: Salerno-olyckan
Article
Salerno-olyckan
Translation
Into English with AI assistance; names of linked operators and aircraft types from Wikidata. It may contain errors.
Revision
59660761 · 2026-09-13 · retrieved 2026-09-19
Wikidata
Q115332191
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
sv Wikipedia article "Salerno-olyckan" (page 8704002, revision 59660761), translated into English with AI assistance
Date
Wikipedia infobox: date
Place and country
Wikipedia infobox: site
Map position
place the Wikipedia infobox site links (Wikidata coordinates)
Aircraft, operator and route
Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
Operation
Reviewed correction (2026-09-26): A civil transport aircraft of Trafik-Turist-Transportflyg hired by the Swedish Air Force to carry its personnel home: a for-hire charter flight by a civil operator, not a military aircraft. The article: "A transport aircraft of the type Bristol 170 Freighter had been chartered by the Swedish Air Force to transport home 21 air force officers and aircraft technicians"
Fatalities
Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
Ground fatalities
not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
Summary
Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
  • Wikipedia · Facts from the Swedish Wikipedia article's infobox, translated into English with AI assistance, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.