Crash of a Douglas TP-79 off Gotska Sandön Island: 8 killed
Date & Time:
Jun 13, 1952
Operator:
Registration:
79001
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Stockholm - Stockholm
MSN:
9001
YOM:
1943
Crew on board:
3
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
5
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
8
Circumstances:
The crew was engaged in signals intelligence-gathering operations for the Swedish National Defense Radio Establishment. The airplane was carrying a crew of three and five employees of the signals intelligence (SIGINT) on behalf of the National Defense Radio Establishment. En route, the TP-79 was shot down by the pilot of a Soviet MiG-15 fighter and crashed into the Baltic Sea off the Gotska Sandön Island. No trace of the aircraft nor the crew was found. In 1956, during an official meeting between the Swedish Prime Minister Tage Erlander and the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev, it was confirmed by the Soviet Authorities that the aircraft has been shot down by a Soviet fighter. The wreckage was found 18 June 2003, recovered and transferred to the Swedish Air Force Museum.
Probable cause:
Shot down by the pilot of a Soviet MiG-15 fighter.
