been found, close to Cava de 'Tirreni, traces of a plane crash in 1952.
long Luigi Fortunato, Daniele and Matteo Pierro Jewel were thinking about how to find traces of this disaster. The initial step was to gather information about the event . In addition to the memories of elderly people have recovered a New York Times 8 November 1952 in which he gave the news of a United States Air plane crashed on the summit of Monte English in the west of Salerno. Having the certainty event, researchers have made a visit with the metal detector in the area indicated by the sources. After a couple of hours of research, have sprung up on several pieces of aluminum the crest of a rocky ridge at about 1000 meters high. In the eyes of experienced researchers (this is their third finding of a plane crash in the province of Salerno), they now appeared as pieces of the fuselage of an airplane. Recovering other small parts they arrived at the base of a cliff a few meters from the summit, where they found high concentrations of metal parts, the point of impact. But that plane is it? Luigi Fortunato said: "From our research we learned that he was a twin-engine A-26 fighter. The plane was introduced to aviation in the United States during World War II and had considerable success as to be used also in years under the name B-26 Marauder.
What was a fighter plane in the skies of Campania in 1952? The answer comes from the file on the incident that the U.S. Air Force Historical Office, a section of the Pentagon, was kindly provided by Matteo Pierro. The researcher illustrates it: "From it we learn that the aircraft belonged to 168 Squadron bombing by the USAF stationed at Laon in France.
In those days of 1952 the unit was based at Capodichino airport in Italy to participate in the exercise of the Atlantic Pact forces called Long Step. On the morning of 7 November, the squadron of Major Jack Telford consists of six B-26 aircraft was intended to simulate a low-altitude attack against a convoy of ships in the Mediterranean.
Major Telford was a veteran of World War II hundreds of flight hours and many missions, he had plenty of experience having flown several aircraft including the A-20 and B-25. After you complete the mission Telford ordered his pilots to sail about Capodichino assigning them different levels of navigation due to worsening weather conditions. A training plane had already been going my way back a few hours before because of problems in radio apparatus.
In landing the pilot lost control of the plane who went to pieces on the runway without causing any harm to the crew. This incident made the runway of the airport Naples impassable for several hours and forced two planes of the squadron to head at Rome. Two more planes landed at 19:51 when the obstacle was removed. The plane was missing the master Telford.
reports in the dossier report two of the largest radio messages in which he claimed to be at an altitude of 2000 feet (600 meters), but had passed the city of Naples without being able to identify the airport. After that there were no other news broadcasts. At 18:55, the B-26 of the largest AF 5652 Telford crashed into the mountain wall, killing him instantly, and his navigator, Captain Jack J. Gilbert.Come never experienced such a pilot was flying at such low altitude in an area surrounded by mountains exceeding 1,000 meters? E 'reasonable to assume that Telford had exchanged due to rain and poor visibility of the Gulf of Salerno to Naples. He was then believed to be near the airport of Capodichino. The testimonies of those who witnessed the tragedy from the ground agree that the plane flew very low to no avail and that the last attempt to raise the aircraft when it was now too close to the cliff. Since the dossier, we learn that the rescue were immediate. The unfolding of the tragedy had many witnesses and because of the powerful noise from engine at low altitude is due to blast and fire that grew stronger as a result of the impact. Abbey of Cava left two teams of volunteers led by fathers Anselmo Serafino, an experienced mountaineer, and Urban Contestabile. Despite the darkness and heavy rain, volunteers managed to reach the top where they could not help but see the total destruction of the aircraft and the lack of survivors. It was nearly midnight when the firefighters found themselves some human limbs carbonizzate.In this sad story played an even Mamma Lucia, the pious woman cavense than later World War II undertook to give a decent burial to the hundreds of soldiers lying in makeshift graves on the battlefield of Salerno. The day after the disaster he wanted to see the poor remains of the unfortunate aviators and realized that there were many parts that he decided to go to the site of the disaster led by a charcoal Sant'Arcangelo. There, looking between cliffs and ravines, he managed to find the missing limbs of the victims. Among other things, along with fragments of the plane, the researchers found a safety pin. This accessory, certainly not well adapted to the envelope of an aviator, appears as a mute testimony of local presence dell'infaticabile woman Cava dei Tirreni.
His business, like that of the rescuers was truly exceptional. Daniel Jewel says, "Add to the crash site, located in an inaccessible area and not very accessible, is a young and trained very hard even if you do it by day and fine weather. To think that we arrived at night with heavy rain as did the rescuers or 65 years of Mamma Lucia amazes. "Researchers are now trying to find relatives of the pilots to inform them of what they have recovered and learned. They also offered up the fragments of the plane to the Association SALERNO 1943 ( http://www.associazionesalerno1943.it/ ) with which they collaborate. The association also wants to recover the historical memory of World War II in the province of Salerno and the story in question is for the aircraft meant that for the characters is closely related. In this regard Sergio Zinna, one of the founders, said: "We hope to expose the fragments of the plane along with many items that we have Operation Avalanche in an exhibition set up in September. In this way we hope to keep alive the memory of this tragic event. "
Click HERE to read the article published at the time of the accident airplane, the American newspaper New York Times 
(Photo Researchers)
(pieces found on the site of the accident)
(Some items found)
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