ITALY: SALVAGE OF RAF HERCULES WHICH CRASHED INTO MEDITERRANEAN... FIFTY-TWO MISSING BELIEVED DEAD.

Record ID: 383710

  • Title: ITALY: SALVAGE OF RAF HERCULES WHICH CRASHED INTO MEDITERRANEAN... FIFTY-TWO MISSING BELIEVED DEAD.
  • Date: 10th November 1971
  • Summary: 1. SV PAN...(NIGHT SHOTS) Salvaged material unloaded from ship at Livorno 0.21 2. SCU PAN..people watching as section of aircraft carried ashore (2 shots) 0.07 3. SCU Salvaged material unwrapped 0.54 4. SV PAN..rubber lifeboat carried ashore 0.58 5. CU PAN..from salvage to lifeboat with "R.A.F." marked on side (3 shots) 1.09 6. CU PAN..undercarriage of crashed aircraft (3 shots) 1.23 7. CU Italian paratrooper looking at salvaged material (2 shots) 1.33 Initials ES. 1545 ES 1628 Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 25th November 1971 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: LIVORNO, ITALY
  • Country: Italy
  • Reuters ID: LVA8MQHNOKATDUQR7N6S0IPECZYA
  • Story Text: Rescue craft have been working in rough seas off the coast of Central Italy near Livorno in the vain hope of finding survivors from an RAF (Royal Air Force.. Britain) Hercules transport which plunged into the Mediterranean on Tuesday (9 November) with 46 Italian paratroops and a crew of six on board. Wreckage from the aircraft has been brought back to Livorno Port by the rescue craft, and other debris has been washed ashore. The Hercules is thought to have crashed into the sea four miles (six kilometres) off the coast, shortly after its take-off from Pisa on a paratroop mission over Sardinia as part of joint Italian-British military exercises. Three inflated rubber lifecrafts, an undercarriage assembly, and items of clothing have also been recovered from the sea.

    This coverage from Visnews cameraman Pino Giambattista was filmed on Tuesday evening as rescue craft were returning to Livorno with wreckage.

    SYNOPSIS: At the Central Italian port of Livorno, salvage craft have been landing wreckage from a British RAF Hercules transport aircraft which crashed in the Mediterranean on Tuesday night with 46 Italian paratroopers and a crew of six on board. No survivors have been found.

    These scenes were filmed only a few hours after the crash, which occurred shortly after the Hercules had left Pisa for a paratroop drop over Sardinia. It's thought to have plunged into the sea four miles offshore.

    As ships and helicopters searched the general area of the crash, investigators were examining wreckage on shore in an attempt to establish the cause of the accident.

    Three inflated rubber dinghies ware among material found as the search progressed. Italian Navy frogmen have not yet recovered the aircraft's black box flight recorder.

    The Hercules was the fourth of ten leaving the airfield at Pisa in 15-second intervals for a joint Italian-British military exercise. When is was reported down in the sea, remaining aircraft were kept on the ground.

    The crash is the worst in military air history in Italy, and a team of British experts have flown to the area to help with investigations.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register