The Berlin Airlift comes to an end.
The Berlin Airlift has been succeeding in delivering more cargo and after fifteen months, it has officially ended on the 30th of September 1949. A total of 2,326,406 tons has been delivered which comprised of 1,783,573 tons delivered in the USA as well as 541,937 RAF tons and 278,228 tons of coals. 7,968 tons of freight and 6,964 passengers during 2,062 sorties was also delivered by the Royal Australian Air Force. Over 92 million miles flew together the C-47s and C-54s . Every thirty seconds, one plane reached West Berlin and pilots even came from different countries to support this operation.
As a result of the operation, a total of 101 aircraft fatalities were recorded which includes 40 Britons and 31 Americans. The cases were mostly due to non-flying accidents while 17 American and 8 British has crashed during operations.
Airlift’s cost was shared between the USA, UK, and Germany. The estimated costs ranges from $2.23 billion to $4.97 billion.