Editing Mount Brandon (section)

== Aircraft accidents==

[[File:Sunderland-Plane-wreackage-Faha-Ridge-Mount-Brandon-Kerry-Ireland-Wild-Atlantic-Way.jpg|thumb|Wreckage of Sunderland Aircraft, Faha Ridge 1943.]]
Between 1940 and 1943 a number of Allied and Axis aircraft crashed on Brandon and the Faha Ridge.<ref name="jimr"/>

* 20 August 1940: A [[Luftwaffe]] [[Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor]] crash-landed on Faha Ridge, the crew of six survived and were the first known aircrew from Germany to land in Ireland during the Second World War. A plaque commemorating this event is on display in O'Connor's Bar and Guest House in Cloghane Village.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://homepage.eircom.net/~wrgi/ikg40.html|title=Crash into Faha Ridge|publisher=Wartime Aircraft Crashes in County Kerry|author=Ger O'Regan|date=2005|quote=Luftwaffe Focke Wulf 200 ''Condor'' of KG40 departed Bordeaux in Western France on the morning of 20 August 1940, to carry out weather reconnaissance and pressure readings off the north-west coast of Ireland. As the huge 4 engine aircraft with a crew of 6 straddled the coastline of Mayo, Galway and Clare it developed engine problems and the pilot decided to try and return home. The problems intensified and therefore a decision was made to force land the aircraft at sea rather than attempt to land in the dense fog not knowing exactly where they were. Through the mist one of the crew could just make out Tralee Bay and in particular ''Hogs Head''. The pilot, Captain Kurt Mollenhauer, from Cuxhaven, set course due west as the aircraft began to descend in dense fog; they were heading for Mount Brandon.}}</ref>
* 28 July 1943: A [[British Overseas Airways Corporation|BOAC]] Civilian ''[[Short Sunderland|Short Sunderland III]]'' Flying Boat crashed due to a navigation error onto the lower slopes of Mount Brandon while flying from West Africa to [[Foynes]] Flying Boat Base. Ten of the twenty-five on board were killed in the wreck. An anchor from the wreck is in O'Connor's Bar and Guest House.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://homepage.eircom.net/~wrgi/gages.html|title=Crash into Mount Brandon|publisher=Wartime Aircraft Crashes in County Kerry|author=Ger O'Regan|date=2005|quote=Capt. Allitt would have had only seconds to react when he would have seen grass below his aircraft at an altitude of approximately 2,000ft. before it impacted into large boulders just below the summit of Mount Brandon. Of the 28 on board, 10 died instantly including Allitt, Noth and Díarmuid Hartigan who was only 70 miles from his home. The crash site was a scene of utter devastation where fire engulfed almost all of the aircraft except the tail section, which bore the registration G–AGES. Amongst the cargo recovered were post from British personnel in Japanese administered [[Prisoner of war camp|POW camps]] in Java. For several months mail continued to be found several miles from the crash site and locals would themselves post the letters to the addressees.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ww2irishaviation.com/gages.htm|title=Shorts Sunderland G–AGES, British Overseas Airways Corporations|publisher=Irish Aviation|author=Denis Burke|date=August 2018}}</ref>
* 22 August 1943: A [[Royal Air Force|RAF]] ''[[Short Sunderland|Short Sunderland III]] [[Flying boat|Flying Boat]]'' belonging to 201 Squadron crashed while flying a patrol in the Atlantic, out of Castle Archdale. It crashed into the lower slopes of Mount Brandon. Eight of the crew of eleven were killed. A plaque commemorating those killed is in O'Connor's Bar and Guest House.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://homepage.eircom.net/~wrgi/201sqn.html|title=2nd Crash into Mount Brandon|publisher=Wartime Aircraft Crashes in County Kerry|author=Ger O'Regan|date=2005|quote=The village of Cloghane had only just about recovered from the B.O.A.C. loss of another Sunderland on 28 July 1943, when tragedy called again 25 days later. Another aircraft came to grief in exactly the same spot and once again with a major loss of life on 22 August 1943. A Royal Air Force Sunderland Flying Boat, DD848, of 201 Squadron, Coastal Command, out of Castle Archdale on Lower Loch Erne, County Fermanagh with a crew of eleven, was intent on hunting U–Boats in The Bay of Biscay but found the inner slopes of Mt. Brandon instead. Again, as on 25 days earlier this area was a scene of carnage with only three survivors.}}</ref>
* 20 December 1943: A [[Royal Air Force|RAF]] ''[[Vickers Wellington]]'' belonging to 304 Squadron based out of [[Predannack Airfield]] crashed directly into Mount Brandon. All of the six Polish crew members were killed. Engines from the wreck are also on display in O'Connor's Bar.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://wartimeni.com/article/vickers-wellington-hf208-crash/ | title=Vickers Wellington HF208 crash on Mount Brandon, Co. Kerry | access-date=26 April 2020 | website=WartimeNI.com | first=Scott | last=Edgar}}</ref>