2024-02-28 05:12:22
Austria’s worst aviation accident marks the 60th anniversary on Thursday. The British passenger plane “Britannia 312” crashed on Mount Glungezer near Hall in Tyrol on February 29, 1964. All 83 inmates died. An investigation concluded that pilot error led to the accident. A memorial service will be held at Glungezer.
It was at 3:18 p.m. when the “Britannia” reported to Innsbruck Airport for the last time. Then the four-engine British Eagle International Airlines aircraft with flight number 802/6 disappeared. As it only became clear the next day, the machine had crashed on the 2,677 meter high Glungezer above the municipality of Tulfes and was then buried by an avalanche. 75 passengers and eight crew members died in the white void.
The aircraft, built in 1958, was actually supposed to land shortly following 3 p.m. at the Alpine airport in Innsbruck, which is known for its difficult conditions. The experienced, 40-year-old pilot reported on the landing approach. He stated that he might not push through the clouds due to poor visibility and would therefore initially fly in the Patscherkofel area. A few minutes later, radio contact was lost. The pilots no longer responded to air traffic control requests.
While there was initially hope that the aircraft might have landed outside the bad weather zone, as the followingnoon progressed the possibility of a crash became increasingly likely. “Alpingendarmen, mountain rescue men and army soldiers” set out to search alpine terrain, according to media reports at the time.
However, the search operation was extremely difficult because no one knew where the plane had last been. As later investigations showed, the “Britannia” crashed into the Glungezer at 3:14 p.m. at an altitude of 2,601 meters east of the Gamslahnerspitze and crashed. At the time there were thick clouds and heavy snow in the area. The accident triggered a huge snow avalanche. It tore much of the plane’s debris and corpses 400 meters down and buried them beneath itself.
After there was still bad weather the following day and no search flights were possible from Innsbruck, two US Air Force reconnaissance aircraft equipped with radar set out from Scotland to search. The wreckage of the accident plane was located around 11:30 a.m. The blanket of snow was covered with kerosene. Only a few bodies and machine debris might be seen. A rescue operation was initiated immediately. The rescuers discovered that no one had survived the disaster. It took several weeks before all the bodies might be recovered and identified.
A technical problem was ruled out as the cause of the accident. The pilot had apparently tried, contrary to the regulations, to get below the clouds in order to be able to land at the airport in Innsbruck, 15 kilometers away. Due to the altitude being too low and the lack of visibility, he crashed into the steep eastern flank of the Glungezer. It was also assumed that the pilot had oriented himself on the lower Patscherkofel and misjudged the altitude of the Glungezer.
According to Austro Control, a so-called instrument approach procedure or cloud penetration procedure was used at Innsbruck Airport from 1976, not least because of the accident. It enables a safe approach through cloud cover. Numerous other technical improvements and innovations – such as runway lighting and radar monitoring – followed. It was not until 15 years following the plane disaster that larger airliners began flying to the airport once more.
On the 60th anniversary, the catastrophe is commemorated with a “commemorative climb” to the summit cross of the Schartenkogel on Glungezer. With the participation of, among others, the British Consulate, the Alpine Association, the Hall and Innsbruck mountain rescue teams and the Alpine police, a memorial service is celebrated for the victims and the rescuers at the time, who set off on foot from Voldertal to the scene of the accident.
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