Catalina affair

Flight 27

Tp 79 Hugin at F 8 Barkarby in 1951.
Incident summary
Date	13 June 1952
Summary	Shot down
Site	East of Gotska Sandön 58°23.522′N 20°17.460′E / 58.392033°N 20.291000°E / 58.392033; 20.291000Coordinates: 58°23.522′N 20°17.460′E / 58.392033°N 20.291000°E / 58.392033; 20.291000
Passengers	0
Crew	8
Fatalities	8 (all)
Aircraft type	DC-3A-360 Skytrain
Aircraft name	Hugin
Operator	Swedish Air Force
Flight origin	, Sweden
Destination	Stockholm Bromma Airport

The Catalina shot down by Soviet forces while searching for the missing Hugin.
Incident summary
Date	16 June 1952
Summary	Shot down
Site	East of Gotska Sandön
Passengers	0
Crew	5
Fatalities	0
Aircraft type	PBY-5 Catalina
Operator	Swedish Air Force
Flight origin	F 2 Hägernäs near Stockholm, Sweden
Destination	F 2 Hägernäs

The Catalina affair (Swedish: Catalinaaffären) was a military confrontation and Cold War-era diplomatic crisis in June 1952, in which Soviet Air Force fighter jets shot down two Swedish aircraft over international waters in the Baltic Sea. The first aircraft to be shot down was an unarmed Swedish Air Force Tp 79, a derivative of the Douglas DC-3, carrying out radio and radar signals intelligence-gathering for the National Defence Radio Establishment. None of the crew of eight was rescued.

The second aircraft to be shot down was a Swedish Air Force Tp 47, a Catalina flying boat, involved in the search and rescue operation for the missing DC-3. The Catalina's crew of five were saved. The Soviet Union publicly denied involvement until its dissolution in 1991. Both aircraft were located in 2003, and the DC-3 was salvaged.

The first aircraft involved was a Swedish Air Force Douglas DC-3A-360 Skytrain, a military transport derivative of the DC-3 known in Swedish service as Tp 79. It carried the serial number 79001. In the media coverage following the event, it became known simply as "the DC-3."

The aircraft was manufactured in 1943 with original US serial number 42-5694, and was delivered to USAAF 15th Troop Carrier Squadron (61st Troop Carrier Group). It saw action in northern Africa before being stationed at RAF Barkston Heath. It was flown on February 5, 1946, from Orly Air Base via Hanau Army Airfield to Bromma and was registered as SE-APZ on May 18, 1946 as a civil aircraft to Skandinaviska Aero AB.