avia.wikisort.org - Event

Polar 3 was a Dornier 228 owned and operated by the Alfred Wegener Institute that was shot down south of Dakhla, Western Sahara by guerrillas of the Polisario Front on 24 February 1985.

Polar 3

Polar 2 in June 2008.
Occurrence
Date	24 February 1985
Summary	Shoot-down
Site	Western Sahara 23.63°N 15.94°W / 23.63; -15.94
Aircraft type	Dornier 228-100
Operator	Alfred Wegener Institute
Registration	D-IGVN
Flight origin	Dakar-Yoff Airport, Senegal
Destination	Lanzarote Airport, Canary Islands
Passengers	0
Crew	3
Fatalities	3
Survivors	0

Polar 2 and Polar 3 were the first German airplanes to reach the South Pole when they landed there in December 1984 and were returning from a five-month mission to the Antarctic, having been based at the Gondwana Research Station.[1] While in Antarctica, Polar 2 was damaged and the bulk of the survey work had to be carried out by Polar 3.[2]

Incident

Polar 3 (FL 90) and Polar 2 (FL 110) were two survey-and-research airplanes of the Alfred Wegener Institute returning from a mission in Antarctica. On 24 February, at approximately 14:45 local time, the two planes took off from Dakar, Senegal bound for Lanzarote Airport, Canary Islands. Their cruise height was 2750 m (approximately 9,000 ft).[3][4] The two planes' ultimate destination was the Dornier aircraft facility near Oberpfaffenhofen in Bavaria, Germany.

The last radio contact made with Polar 3 occurred at approximately 16:30 GMT. At some point thereafter, it was shot down south of Dakhla by Polisario guerillas. Allegedly, they had mistaken it for a Moroccan spy plane. All three of the Polar 3's crew members – pilot Herbert Hampel, co-pilot Richard Möbius (both 47) and mechanic Josef Schmid (28) – were killed. Polar 2, five minutes ahead of Polar 3, escaped unharmed. The bodies of the Polar 3 crew were eventually recovered five days later.[5]

Reaction

The German government did not recognize Morocco's claim to Western Sahara at the time, remaining neutral in the conflict. They heavily criticized this incident.[4]

Polisario admitted to shooting down Polar 3 but pointed ultimate blame at Morocco for the incident, claiming Morocco used Dornier 228s as spy planes. Polisario fighters had mistaken this particular 228 as a Moroccan spy plane and were unaware Morocco had opened the airspace over the combat region. The year prior, Polisario had shot down three airplanes, two Moroccan and one Belgian.[4]

Morocco denied the use of Dornier 228 planes.[4] The question was also raised as to why the air traffic control in Dakar directed the plane over the disputed and potentially dangerous Western Sahara territory rather than the safe airspace to the west over the Atlantic Ocean.[4]

Aircraft

Polar 3 was a special version of the Dornier 228-101. The plane had been equipped with a combined wheel and ski landing gear, allowing it to land on snow as well as on hard surfaces. The plane had modified generators on board, additional tanks and de-icing equipment for propellers and wings. It was also specially insulated for use in polar regions.[6]

Polar 2 and 3 weighed almost seven tons and could be used for survey missions as well as for transport and search and rescue missions.

The scientific equipment the plane carried was used for measuring the magnetic and gravity field of the Earth, surface conductivity, surface temperatures, ice thickness and topographic layouts below the ice surface.[6]

References

External links

• Alfred Wegener Institute website
• (in German) Description of Polar 2 (with pictures)
• Aviation safety network – Report on Polar 3
• Flightglobal archive Newspaper article on Polar 3

На других языках

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[de] Polar 3

Polar 3 war ein Forschungsflugzeug des Typs Dornier 228 des Alfred-Wegener-Instituts (AWI).

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- [en] Polar 3

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[fr] Polar 3

Le Polar 3 est un Dornier 228, détenu et exploité par l'Institut Alfred Wegener, et abattu au sud de Dakhla, au Sahara occidental, par des guérilleros du Front Polisario le 24 février 1985.

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