If the accident of the Sancy cable car, which occurred on December 25, 1965, marked local memories with a heavy toll of 7 deaths and 19 injured, the deadliest disaster to occur in the massif remains that of the crash of an American military plane on the Durbise plateau on November 13, 1951 with 36 dead. There is no memorial monument on site to pay homage to the numerous victims, however the American military archives now declassified and the press of the time make it possible to faithfully reconstruct the chronology of this event.

Nicknamed the “flying wagon”, the plane in question, a US Air Force C-82A Packet registered CQ-801, was a twin-engine freighter with a twin-beam fuselage, built by the Fairchild Aircraft company. 223 examples were assembled between 1944 and 1948, before the model was withdrawn from US Air Force service in 1954. This type of aircraft was intended mainly for transporting cargo and troops as well as evacuation sanitary, notably during the Korean War. Its carrying capacity was 42 soldiers or 8.16 tons of cargo.

The plane crashed on November 13, 1951 belonged to the 11th Troop Carrier Squadron, a unit attached to the 60th Troop Carrier Group of the US Air Force positioned at RHEIN-MAIN air base, in the FRANKFURT region, in West Germany. Responsible for transporting troops, supplies and military equipment, this unit distinguished itself by taking an active part in the airlift during the blockade of BERLIN in 1948.

Tuesday November 13, 1951

During a regular flight to BORDEAUX-MERIGNAC, 32 passengers (29 aviators joining their new assignment to the 126th Bombardment Wing in order to establish a car pool, in addition to corporal Edward G. DAVILA returning from leave in Germany, and two soldiers from the 2nd Air Postal Squadron) took place aboard the C-82, composed of a crew with four personnel : the pilot captain Raphael F. BAIRD, co-pilot 2nd Lt. Roy W. FINCK, flight engineer technical sergeant Francis F. FOX and radio operator sergeant Donald E. GRIFFITH. Eight of the passengers and crew members were World War II veterans.

The plane took off from FRANKFURT-RHEIN-MAIN air base at 9:25 a.m. for a flight covering a distance of 560 miles. After flying over the STRASBOURG region, radio contact was established at 11:08 a.m. with an air traffic controller in DIJON. The last radio contact was noted at 11:45 a.m. during the flight over CORBIGNY.

The weather briefing reported poor weather conditions (thick clouds, limited visibility, wind from the north reported at up to 30 knots) in central France. Also the pilot decided to carry out his flight in IFR mode (instrument flight) at an altitude of 6,000 feet instead of 8,000. While the landing was planned at MERIGNAC at 1:15 p.m., the disappearance of the aircraft was reported when the fuel reserve was theoretically exhausted, i.e. at 5:25 p.m. The SATER research system, created three years previously, was immediately activated.

On the Sancy massif, the presence of a snowstorm and a complete whiteout was reported that day.

Wednesday November 14, 1951

36 planes (several B-29 bombers, 22 C-82 planes, 5 Douglas C-47s, 2 Grumman SA-16 Albatross seaplanes, etc.) coming in particular from the 9th Air Rescue Squadron from WIESBADEN arrived at the BRON airfield to participate in the research. Four helicopters armed with paratroopers were placed on alert.

Several French aircraft (including two Lioré and Olivier LeO 451 bombers) coming from ISTRES were also positioned on alert on the AULNAT field.

In total, nearly 70 American, English and French planes and helicopters were mobilized from dawn on November 14 on a 70 km wide corridor between DIJON and the Atlantic Ocean off the Gironde coast.

They were placed under the authority of Captain Marshall Vernon FREDRICKSON. Captain COPENHAVER was the liaison between the rescue teams and the US Air Force command.

Also taking part in the search were around a hundred gendarmes, skiers from the French Ski Federation, guides from the French Alpine Club and mountaineers from the massif.

A persistent fog was observed on the Monts-Dore. However, checks were carried out on the landing strip of the former national engineless flight center at Banne d’Ordanche.

The research became more precise with the discovery by an inhabitant of the hamlet of Voissière (commune of CHAMBON-SUR-LAC), Antoine COUGOUL, of a half-burned piece of paper, an “Air Training Certificate” dated March 17, 1951 attributed to corporal Ernest GLINGENER Jr., passenger listed on the C-82 flight manifest. Likewise, residents and workers working on a construction site in the town of BEAUNE-LE-FROID had reported hearing airplane engine noises during the afternoon of November 13.

Thursday November 15, 1951

The sky being now completely clear, the searches resumed with greater intensity. From 8:25 a.m., Captain Georges RUBY (head of the Landais radio center in AUBIERE), Captain Albert BANNES and Sergeant BUREAU on board a Nord 1100 Noralpha aircraft spotted the wreckage of the crashed plane about 5,000 feet on the Durbise plateau. Located in the commune of CHAMBON-SUR-LAC, this plain, with a slight slope at the site of the crash and facing northeast, was topped by the Roc de Cuzeau (1,737 meters above sea level) and overlooked the Col de la Croix-Saint-Robert located at 1,451 meters above sea level. The desolate moor was covered by half a meter of snow.

The Nord 1100 crew immediately communicated the coordinates of the plane (“453325 North, 025030 East”) to the rescue headquarters established in the village of Moneaux (municipality of CHAMBON-SUR-LAC).

At the same time there was a group of six gendarmes from the ISSOIRE brigade were near the Roc de Cuzeau and a rope of firefighters from MONT-DORE and CHAMBON-SUR-LAC advancing towards the Col de la Croix Saint-Robert. They were joined by a detachment from the 92nd infantry regiment and a Republican security company, as well as by Marcel GODARD, police chief of CLERMONT-FERRAND, and at the beginning of the afternoon by around ten rescuers from the US Air Force.

The C-82 was discovered dislocated over around fifty meters, its engines buried in the ground, and its main cabin charred by a fire. It remained identifiable in particular thanks to its characteristic twin fins.

No survivors could be rescued, 33 men having been killed instantly due to the violence of the deceleration and the fact that they had not used their seat belts (only co-pilot FINK had been found strapped to its seat). Two men had been ejected two meters from the cockpit (Captain John J. FITZGERALD and Sergeant Donald E. GRIFFITH). Pilot BAIRD managed to crawl a few meters, with both broken ankles and head trauma, before succumbing. The red cartridge from a warning flare was found next to him.

The bodies were horribly mutilated or burned and covered by around ten centimeters of snow. The exact time of the accident (12:05 p.m.) was fixed using the victims' stopped watches. It appeared that the plane had deviated 8° to the left of its flight plan since the DIJON region for two hours, or 50 miles to the south.

Stretchers and sleds were parachuted near the site by two C-82 aircraft. A detachment of the US Air Force and three gendarmes remained on site overnight to ensure the protection of the premises at 5°F.

Friday November 16, 1951

The day was devoted to cutting out the tangle of scrap metal with a blowtorch. 22 bodies were transported on stretchers and gathered under a tent set up at the Col de la Croix Saint-Robert. Father BRIGAUD, parish priest of MONT-DORE, blessed the bodies which were then brought down by truck and placed in an ardent chapel set up in a wooden chalet in CHAMBON-SUR-LAC. The walls had been covered with white sheets by the women of the village and an altar had been set up, surmounted by the American and French flags and the flag of the town's veterans.

Saturday November 17, 1951

The last ten bodies were extricated and taken down to CHAMBON-SUR-LAC.

Sunday November 18, 1951

A ceremony took place at 1:30 p.m. at the Col de la Croix-Saint-Robert in the presence of the mayors and municipal councils of CHAMBON-SUR-LAC and MUROL, a delegation of veterans and firefighters. A prayer was pronounced by Father Jean DAVID, parish priest of MUROL in the presence of the prefect of Puy-de-Dôme Pierre-Henri RIX, the sub-prefect of ISSOIRE and American and French personalities.

The 36 bodies were then transported by trucks to the AULNAT air base where a final tribute took place by the authorities. Bishop Gabriel PIGUET pronounced the prayer for the dead and blessed the coffins, before the hymns performed by the band of the 92nd infantry regiment. The coffins were loaded into four US Air Force C-82 planes which had arrived the day before at AULNAT and which took off at 3:00 p.m. for FRANKFURT, before joining the United States a few days later.

In the following weeks, the US Air Force carried out an investigation into the cause of the accident and managed to identify all of the bodies, the identification having been made complex by the fact that the passengers had their administrative and medical files with them. who were consumed in the fire.

The event was widely reported in the American and French national press.

The United States ambassador in PARIS and the consul in LYON sent letters of gratitude to the local authorities for the civilians and soldiers who contributed to the search and discovery of the plane.

The 36 dead were posthumously decorated with the National Defense Service Medal (NDSM), a distinction created by President Dwight D. EISENHOWER in 1953.

Worst accident of this model of plane, the report established by the board of investigation of the US Air Force concluded that it was a pilot error, associated with an incorrect setting of the altimeter and the implementation of emergency procedures. wrong flight and radio. The report specified that when the plane was discovered, its dashboard was intact. Analysis of the flight instruments confirmed a normal flight attitude, the absence of engine failure or fire on board before the impact and a compliant cruise regime.

List of 36 victims :

Crew members :

Captain Raphael Francis BAIRD (Pilot 11th TCS) born 07/09/1921 - State of Georgia

Second lieutenant Roy William Adolph FINCK (Copilot 11th TCS) born 02/09/1924 - State of Missouri

Technical sergeant Francis Frederic FOX (Engineer) born 07/17/1919 - State of Michigan

Sergeant Donald Edward GRIFFITH (Radio Operator) born 04/04/1930 - State of Florida

Passengers :

US Air Force Archives (Michael T. STOWE Accident-Report.Com )

Departmental archives of Puy-de-Dôme (photographic funds of the General Information of Clermont-Ferrand)

Simon D. BECK, Fairchild C-82 Packet, The military and civil history, McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 2017

Giorgio SALERNO

National and regional press (L’Aurore, Le Monde, Paris Presse, La Montagne, La Bourgogne républicaine, L’Auvergnat de Paris, Le Semeur, Ce soir, La Croix, La Gazette provençale, Beaune-informations, L’Echo nogentais, The Daily Alaska Empire, The Evening Star, The Ohio Daily Express, The Sunday Star, The Winona Republican-Herald, Washington Journal, Waycross Journal-Herald, El Sol)

Thibault FOURIS