Solheimasandur Plane Wreck

In November 1973 a United States Navy DC-3 came down on the black sand of Solheimasandur after running into trouble - fuel icing is the usual account - and the crew all survived and were rescued. The aircraft was stripped of anything useful and the fuselage left where it lay, and it has sat on the sand ever since, wingless, riveted aluminium slowly going soft in the salt air. Driving to it was stopped years ago after damage to the land, so it is now a walk of about four kilometres each way across flat black sand with no shelter, or a ride on the shuttle bus that runs from the car park.

Background

The aircraft, a C-117D based on the Super DC-3, was flying on 21 November 1973 from Höfn to the naval air station at Keflavík after delivering supplies to the radar station at Stokksnes. About 45 minutes after take-off ice built up and stopped both carburettor engines, and the crew chose the coast over the glacier and came down on a frozen river on the sand; all seven were lifted out by helicopter. The airframe, serial 17171, had been built as an R4D-5 and converted in November 1951. Graffiti, gunfire and visitors have since scarred the fuselage, and the wreck appears in Justin Bieber's 2015 video for I'll Show You and in the song Gerua from the Indian film Dilwale.

Source: Wikipedia, "1973 Sólheimasandur Douglas C-117D crash"

The main sights

• A DC-3 fuselage on black sand - stripped, wingless, left where it landed.
• A crash everyone survived - the crew rescued in November 1973.
• Four kilometres each way - the walk in across open sand.
• A shuttle bus alternative - for those who would rather not walk it.

When to go

Year round, though the walk is exposed and grim in winter. Three hours.

Practical notes

There is no shade, shelter or water on the walk and it is dull in both directions. In winter it can be dangerous in wind. The wreck is busy with people queueing for photographs. Driving out to it is prohibited.

Nearby

Skogafoss is west; Dyrholaey and Vik are east.

Key facts