1973 US Navy C-117D Sólheimasandur Crash
The 1973 US Navy C-117D Sólheimasandur Crash, commonly known as the Sólheimasandur Crash, is a crashed US Navy Douglas C-117D located in on the southern coast of Iceland. The remains of the aircraft - which crashed in 1973 - have remained relatively intact, leading to the crash site becoming a tourist destination. Accident. The accident aircraft was flying from Hofn Hornafjördur Airport to Naval Air Station Keflavik, after delivering supplies for the radar station at Stokksnes. En-route the aircraft encountered severe icing and the crew were forced to land on a frozen river at Sólheimasandur . All 7 crew members survived and were rescued by helicopter, but the aircraft was written off (surveyed in USN parlance). The unsalvaged remains of the aircraft were left at the scene. Aircraft. The aircraft serial number 17171, was designated C-117D and was based on the Super DC-3, first flown in 1944. Note that this R4D-8 was built as an R4D-5 (msn 12554) and converted to R4D-8 (msn 43309) in November 1951. All R4D-8 aircraft still extant were re-designated as C-117D in the tri-service designation system introduced from 18 September 1962. Summary. Forced to land due to severe icing , 17171 was written off and unsalvaged parts of the aircraft remained at the site. As of 2022, the fuselage of the aircraft remains relatively intact, leading to the site becoming a popular tourist destination. The wreck has accumulated superficial damage from graffiti, gunfire, and tourists over the years. Tours to the site are available and the trek back-and-forth, takes about four hours. In January 2020, two Chinese tourists died of hypothermia near the wreckage after getting caught in a storm that went over the area. A month later, SAR units had to rescue several tourists that had ignored  a warning from the police to not trek to the wreckage due to deteriorating weather in the area.