Christina Karrer

In November 19, 1946, a U.S. military transport plane goes out of control while flying over the Swiss Alps and crashes high in the mountains. Miraculously, all 12 passengers and crew survive the accident, but their safety is anything but assured. The aircraft has flown miles off course, and its position is unknown. Food supplies are low, the temperature is dropping, and their radio battery is running out of juice. Time is quickly running out. The fate of the survivors will depend on one man, one plane, and one inspired idea.

A Dakota carrying US generals, their wives, and a girl takes off from Vienna bound for Pisa. A storm drives the DC3 over the Swiss Alps. Miraculously, the pilot manages to fly around the mountain peaks without any sense of direction until the plane crashes on the Gauli Glacier, triggering the most spectacular Alpine rescue to date. American military personnel disable their own and attempt to conquer the glacier with tanks. But the Swiss are not deterred by the US. A small mountain rescue team climbs to the accident site under the most difficult conditions. For the first time, a rescue plane lands on skids on the eternal ice, and Switzerland is celebrated by the world press.