Polar 2 in June 2008. |
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| Occurrence summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | 24 February 1985 |
| Type | Shoot-down |
| Site | Western Sahara |
| Passengers | 0 |
| Crew | 3 |
| Fatalities | 3 |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Aircraft type | Dornier Do 228-100 |
| Operator | Alfred Wegener Institute |
| Tail number | D-IGVN |
| Flight origin | Dakar-Yoff Airport, Senegal |
| Destination | Lanzarote Airport, Canary Islands |
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Polar 3 was a Dornier Do 228 airplane of the Alfred Wegener Institute that was shot down south of Dakhla by guerrillas of the Polisario Front over Western Sahara on 24 February 1985.
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]
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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 (age 47), co-pilot Richard Möbius (also age 47) and mechanic Josef Schmid (age 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]
The German government, which did not recognize Morocco's claim to Western Sahara at the time and remained neutral in the conflict, heavily criticized the incident.[4]
Polisario admitted to having shot down the Polar 3 but blamed Morocco for the incident, claiming that Morocco uses Dornier 228 as spy planes, which led to Polisario fighters mistaking the plane. Polisario also blamed Morocco for opening the airspace over the combat region. In 1984, Polisario had shot down two Moroccan and a Belgian airplane.[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 area rather than the safe air space to the west over the Atlantic Ocean.[4]
Polar 3 was a special version of the Dornier Do 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 the 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]
The Alfred Wegener Institute operated five airplanes under the name of Polar, those being:[1]
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