Airship Italia - Aftermath of The Crash

Aftermath of The Crash

Cecioni was hurled out the ruptured cabin and into a mound of ice injuring both his legs. As he looked up he saw the envelope drifting above him, and Ciocca halfway out of the starboard engine car staring down in horror. Lago, Dr Pontremoli, and Alessandrini were also visible, in the torn opening where the companion way had been. Chief Engineer Ettore Arduino, with remarkable presence of mind, started throwing anything he could lay his hands on down to the men on the ice as he drifted slowly away with the envelope. These supplies, and the packs intended for the descent to the ice were to help keep the survivors alive for their long ordeal on the ice. Arduino himself perished with the drifting airship envelope.

Troiani, at the engine control signals fared better, being hurled into soft snow and rolling before immediately jumping to his feet and cleaning the snow off his glasses, which had survived the crash unscathed. Viglieri and Mariano, standing next to the chart table, briefly saw the rear engine car about to strike the ice hard and then found themselves prostrate but unharmed in a mass of debris. Biagi, with no time to send out an SOS grabbed the portable emergency radio and wrapped his arms around it trying to save it from damage. The impact on the ice winded him but left him inside the wreck of the cabin. Nobile lay unconscious with a head wound, with Malmgren and Zappi nearby.

Mariano, Behounek, Trojani, and Vigleri were on their feet first and began to examine the others for injuries. Nobile gradually regained consciousness - he had a broken leg, right arm, and cracked rib in addition to the wound on his head. Cecioni had two badly broken legs. Malmgren had an injured shoulder (possibly broken or dislocated), and much later was suspected to have internal injuries to his kidney. Zappi had severe chest pains from suspected broken ribs.

Almost immediately the survivors were buoyed by the discovery of a waterproof bag containing chocolate, pemmican, a Colt revolver, ammunition and a flaregun. Biagi's radio was intact and he immediately began searching for material to construct a radio mast. Biagi soon discovered the rear engine car smashed on the ice, and the body of Pomella, who had apparently survived the impact and sat down on a block of ice, but died minutes afterwards from a massive head injury. Despite this shock Biagi erected an antenna and within a few hours began to send the first SOS from the stricken survivors. Nobile and Cecioni were placed together in a sleeping bag for warmth and spent the next few hours in semi-consciousness while the others gathered what they could from the wreck. According to Nobile, Malmgren, in pain, and suffering from guilt about his role in the crash announced he would drown himself and began walking away from the crash site, only stopping when sharply ordered to return by the General. Later the same day, Mariano had to disarm Malmgren after he started to walk away from the crash site with the loaded Colt revolver. Meanwhile the uninjured men surveyed the ice pack, collecting supplies and chose a stable patch of ice to erect a 2.4 x 2.4 metre silk tent they recovered which was to be their only shelter during the coming ordeal.

The day after the crash was spent looking for more supplies amongst the wreckage. Navigational instruments and charts were recovered allowing the position of the crash site to be calculated. The quantity of rations per man was also calculated. This was a scant 300 grams of food per day, mainly pemmican and chocolate, calculated for a 25 day stay on the ice. Eventually 129 kg (284 pounds) of food were recovered extending this supply to 45 days. Finally the crowded tent was dyed red for improved visibility from the air, with dye marker bombs that had been aboard the airship. Biagi continued to signal for help with his radio; however, the survivors quickly became exasperated at the stream of mundane personal messages pouring out of the Citta di Milano interspersed with occasional messages for the Italia. After several days cold began to take its toll. While the fliers had been equipped with many layers of woollen clothes and lambskin flight suits, but not all of them were fully dressed at the time of the crash and none had proper arctic survival clothing. On 28 May land was sighted in the distance, breaking the despondency of the survivors. Discussions began as to whether the survivors should attempt a trek towards land and eventually it was decided that Malmgren, Zappi and Mariano should be sent to try to summon help. On 29 May Malmgren shot a Polar bear which approached the crash site, augmenting the food supply with about 189 kg (400 pounds) of fresh meat.