A march to a Spanish mountain where a United States Navy plane crashed

On March 8, 1960, a United States Navy plane suffered a serious accident on a mountain 12 km from Jérez del Marquesado.

Sierra Bermeja: the remains of a 1998 plane crash in a place that is difficult to access
Moncayo: an airplane graveyard in a Spanish mountain at more than 2,000 meters

The crashed plane was a Douglas R5D-3 Skymaster, the name given to the DC-4s used by the US Navy and Coast Guard. The plane had taken off from Naples, Italy, bound for Rota Naval Base in Spain. The plane, with serial number 56521, MSN 10835 and christened with the Spanish name "Ciudad de Madrid", encountered a snowstorm that caused it to lose altitude until it crashed into a thick layer of snow on the slopes of Picón de Jérez, at an altitude of 2,600 meters, in the Chorreras Negras area.

The pilot's skill prevented any deaths among the 24 occupants of the plane (4 crew members and 20 passengers), making it a unique case among high-mountain air accidents. The 24 occupants of the plane were rescued by civilians from Jérez del Marquesado (Granada) and members of the Spanish Armed Forces.

This Sunday, the always interesting channel Aventuras Entresierras (which I recommend you subscribe to if you like urban exploration, mountain tourism and bivouacs) has published a video of a walk from Jérez del Marquesado to the R5D-3 crash site, with a group of mountaineers led by the indefatigable Alfred, who has a good fan club here (the video is in Spanish, you can activate the automatic English subtitles in the bottom bar of the player):

You can see some screenshots from this video here, as a preview. The route begins with a visit to the old Santa Constanza copper mine and the mining town that was close to it.

The video shows some beautiful landscapes in this area. In it we can see the Morales hydroelectric power station.

The mountaineers make a stop at the El Hornillo refuge. If you plan to spend the night at this site, I strongly recommend that you watch the video first, so you don't get a surprise.

The hikers spent the night next to the fabulous Postero Alto mountain refuge, a few days before its reopening after a renovation process. The site looks excellent.