| 1973 US Navy C-117D Sólheimasandur Crash | |
| Occurrence Type: | Accident |
| Summary: | Icing conditions |
| Site: | Near Sólheimasandur |
| Aircraft Type: | Douglas C-117D |
| Operator: | United States Navy |
| Tail Number: | 17171 |
| Origin: | Hornafjörður Airport (HFN/BIHN), Iceland |
| Destination: | Naval Air Station Keflavik |
| Crew: | 7 |
| Injuries: | 0 |
| Fatalities: | 0 |
| Survivors: | 7 |
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.
The aircraft involved in the accident 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.[1]
The aircraft serial number 17171, was designated C-117D and was based on the Super DC-3, first flown in 1944.[1] 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.
As of 2024, the fuselage of the aircraft remains relatively intact, leading to the site becoming a popular tourist destination.[2] [3] [4] The wreck has accumulated superficial damage from graffiti, gunfire, and tourists over the years.[5] [6] Tours to the site are available and the trek back-and-forth takes about two to three hours.
In January 2020, two Chinese tourists died of hypothermia near the wreckage after getting caught in a storm that went over the area.[7] 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.[8]