Its primary purpose involved diplomatically ensuring the safety of allied air traffic into and out of the western sectors of the divided city against the threat of East German or Soviet air defenses.
Formed in the summer of 1945, the BASC existed until the fall of the wall in 1989.
Located in the Allied Control Authority Building, the BASC was manned continuously by American, British, and French military representatives along with two Soviet representatives - a controller and an interpreter. These officers worked in close cooperation to ensure the safety of allied aircraft 24 hours a day.
Coordinating closely with BARTCC (Berlin Air Route Traffic Control Center) air traffic facilities at Tempelhof Airbase, the BASC representatives verified diplomatic clearances, protested Soviet infringements upon allied air corridors, and fielded the political ramifications of east bloc defectors escaping into West Berlin by stolen aircraft.
Tensions reached an understandable high during the Berlin Airlift in 1948-49, though the success of the campaign was in large part due to the coordination carried out within the BASC.
The BerlinAirSafetyCenter (BASC) came into existence immediately after the close of World War II and was one of only two Cold War, four-power organizations to ever exist, the other being Spandau Prison.
Formed in the summer of 1945, the BASC existed until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
Coordinating closely with BARTCC (BerlinAir Route Traffic Control Center) air traffic facilities at Tempelhof Airbase, the BASC representatives verified diplomatic clearances, protested Soviet infringements upon allied air corridors, and fielded the political ramifications of east bloc defectors escaping into West Berlin by stolen aircraft.
The Berlin Blockade, one of the major crises of the Cold War, occurred from June 24, 1948 - May 11, 1949 when the Soviet Union blocked Western rail and road access to West Berlin.
The French, U.S., and British sectors of Berlin were deep within the Soviet occupation zones, and thus a focal point of tensions corresponding to the breakdown of the U.S.-Soviet wartime alliance.
The major Berlin airfields involved were Tempelhof, in the American Sector, Gatow and the Havel lake in the British and Tegel (built by army engineers in 49 days with the help of Berlin volunteers) in the French.
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