The C-53 Crash on the Gauli Glacier in the Bernese Alps, (Switzerland) on 19 November 1946 was a turning point in alpine rescue and an international media event.

42-68846) – a military, passenger-only, variant of the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner – took off from Tulln Air Base near Vienna, Austria, bound for Pisa, Italy.

An hour after the crash, the crew was able to send emergency radio messages which were received at Orly Airport and at the Istres-Le Tubé Air Base near Marseille, tri-angulating their position in the area between Airolo, Sion and the Jungfrau.

A Boeing B-29 Superfortress sighted the aircraft by chance from an altitude of 16,000 ft (5 km) whilst en route to Munich, later confirmed by the crew of a Swiss Air Force (SwAF) EKW C-36.

On 23 November at 2:20 PM, two Swiss soldiers on skis reached the stricken aircraft and its passengers after a 13-hour ascent from Innertkirchen, but as it was too late for a descent on the same day, it was decided to wait at the wreck over night, enduring temperatures of −15 °C (5 °F).

At 10.20 AM, SwAF pilots Captain Victor Hug and Major Pista Hitz, managed to land two Fieseler Storch aircraft on the glacier beside the rescuers, and with eight flights, everyone was flown to safety.

In 2012 & in 2018[6] remains of the machine that crashed in 1946 emerged on the Gauli Glacier, and subsequently the Swiss Army has been working to recover the wreck and clean up the site.