Jon Sigurgeirsson from Myvatns (Helluvað) (1909-2000) was one of the rescuers that saved the crew of Geysir from Vatnajokull glacier.

His daughter, Herdís Anna, has now compiled her father’s diary entries and articles about this successful but dangerous rescue.

On 14 September 1950, the Loftleiðir aircraft Geysir, carrying a crew of six, crashed into the white snowfields of Vatnajökull.

All hope had been abandoned after a continuous four-day search for the aircraft. But on 18 September, a faint Morse-code transmission was heard by a coast guard vessel off Langanes: “Position unknown… all alive.”

Brave mountaineers from Akureyri and Reykjavík immediately set off toward the crash site, which was at an altitude of more than 1,800 metres on Bárðarbunga, on Vatnajökull. American soldiers attempted to rescue the people from the glacier, but their efforts failed. The nation placed all its trust in the Icelandic rescuers.

On 20 September, nine rescuers set out onto the glacier. Some walked 70–80 kilometres across the ice, almost without rest, after having driven across a little-explored highland route, crossing dangerous rivers and rough lava fields.

They succeeded in rescuing a total of ten men from mortal danger on the glacier, despite many things having gone wrong on the part of the overall command structure. It can be said that fortune was with the rescuers.

Jon Sigurgeirsson from Myvatns (Helluvað) (1909-2000) was one of the rescuers that saved the crew of Geysir from Vatnajokull glacier.

His daughter, Herdís Anna, has now compiled her father’s diary entries and articles about this successful but dangerous rescue.