1958 — Feb 15, USAF C-47 Transport Plane Crashes in fog on Mt. Vesuvius, Italy –all 16

–16 Aviation Safety Network Database. USAF Douglas VC-47A, 15Feb1958, Monte Vesuvio.
–16 Corsicana Daily Sun, TX. “Missing Plane Wreckage Found on Mt. Vesuvius.” 2-19-1958, 1
–16 Redlands Daily Facts, CA. “U.S. Plane Lost in Italy.” 2-17-1958. p. 1
–16 Stars and Stripes. “16 Killed, 22 Missing in AF, Navy Crackups.” 2-23-1958, p. 4.

Narrative Information

Aviation Safety Network:
“Date: Saturday 15 February 1958
“Type: Douglas VV-47A (DC-e)
“Operator: United States Air Force – USAF
“Registration: 42-93817
“MSN: 13771
“First flight: 1944
“Crew: Fatalities 6 / Occupants: 6
“Passengers: Fatalities: 10 / Occupants: 10
“Total: Fatalities: 16 / Occupants: 16
….
“Location: Monte Vesuvio (Italy)
“Phase: En route
“Nature: Military
“Departure AP: Napoli-Capodichinii Airport…Italy
“Destination AP: ?
“Narrative:

“The VC-47 was en route from Ramstein, Germany to a base near Istanbul in Turkey. An intermediate stop was made in Naples, where it landed at 13:29.

“Last radio contact was at 22:24, about thirty minutes after takeoff when the crew reported en route at 6500 feet and switching to the Rome ATC. It never contacted Rome and the airplane impacted Mount Vesuvius.” (Aviation Safety Network Database. USAF Douglas VC-47A, 15Feb1958, Monte Vesuvio.)

Newspapers

Monday, Feb 17: “Naples, Italy (UP) – Italian federal police searched the fog-shrouded mountains of southern Italy today for a U.S. Air Force plane missing since Saturday midnight with 16 persons aboard. The plane, en route from Ramstein, Germany, to Greece, reported its position east of Naples at midnight Saturday. That would be toward Albania which has forced down two U.S. and British planes in recent weeks, but there was no speculation that the C-47 had met a like fate.” (Redlands Daily Facts, CA. “U.S. Plane Lost in Italy.” 2-17-1958. p. 1.)

Feb 19, AP: “Naples, Italy, Feb 19 (AP) — Ground patrols reached the wreckage of a U.S. Air Force C47 transport plane on Mt. Vesuvius today, and reported by radio that all of its 16 passengers were dead. Two were Texans. The wreckage had been spotted earlier by a search plane.

“Patrols battled snowstorms and sleet to the 3,800-foot level of the 4,000-foot volcano, where the plane crashed four days ago, after taking off from Naples for Athens. Heavy fog shrouding Vesuvius and Southern Italy since the day of the crash, lifted earlier in the day and the wreckage was sighted from the air. Snow and high winds beat back efforts of a helicopter from the US. carrier Saratoga to make a landing near the crash scene. However, U.S. NATO personnel, Italian soldiers and police reached the scene on foot after hours of climbing.

“The plane carried 15 Air Force men from the Ramstein-Landstuhl base in Germany and a Navy passenger.” (Corsicana Daily Sun, TX. “Missing Plane…Found on Mt. Vesuvius.” 2-19-1958, 1)

Feb 23: “A USAFE C47 was lost last week on a flight from Naples to Athens. After a four-day search, hampered by rain and bad visibility, the plane’s wreckage was found on the slopes of Mt. Vesuvius, only a few minutes flying time from Naples’s Capodichino Airport. With the wreckage were the bodies of seven members of the crew and nine passengers, all servicemen, most of them stationed at Ramstein, Germany…” (Stars and Stripes. “16 Killed, 22 Missing in AF, Navy Crackups.” 2-23-1958, p. 4.)

Sources

Aviation Safety Network Database, Flight Safety Foundation. USAF Douglas VC-47A, 15Feb1958, Monte Vesuvio. Accessed 2-5-2023 at: https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19580215-0

Corsicana Daily Sun, TX. “Missing Plane Wreckage Found on Mt. Vesuvius.” 2-19-1958, p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=156409022

Redlands Daily Facts, CA. “U.S. Plane Lost in Italy.” 2-17-1958. p. 1. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=156899994

Stars and Stripes. “16 Killed, 22 Missing in AF, Navy Crackups.” 2-23-1958, p. 4. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=133432902