Widerøe Flight 839
Accident | |
---|---|
Date | 12 April 1990 |
Summary | Structural failure due to strong winds |
Site | Værøy Airport, Værøy, Norway 67°41′N 012°40′E / 67.683°N 12.667°E |
Aircraft | |
Aircraft type | De Havilland Canada DHC-6 Twin Otter |
Operator | Widerøe |
Registration | LN-BNS |
Flight origin | Værøy Airport |
Destination | Bodø Airport |
Occupants | 5 |
Passengers | 3 |
Crew | 2 |
Fatalities | 5 |
Survivors | 0 |
Widerøe Flight 839, also known as the Værøy Accident (
Uneven and strong winds had given the airport low regularity, and prior to take-off, wind speeds of 57 knots (29 m/s; 106 km/h) had been recorded. The accident caused the airport to be permanently closed, and replaced by
Accident
Widerøe Flight 839 was a scheduled flight from Værøy Airport to Bodø Airport operated with a de Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otter. The aircraft had registration LN-BNS and serial number 536, and was delivered to Widerøe on 27 April 1977.[1] It was insured with Norsk Flyforsikringspool.[2] The aircraft left Bodø Airport at 13:36 as Flight 838 to Røst Airport, where it landed at 14:04. It continued to Værøy as Flight 839, leaving Røst at 14:14. During this flight the crew received information that the wind at the east end of the runway was from 270°, varying from 18 to 26 knots (9.3 to 13.4 m/s; 33 to 48 km/h)—a moderate gale. When the plane landed at 14:30, the tower had stated that the wind was from 270° and max 23 knots (43 km/h). The crew commented on the wind after landing, and stated that the wind blew from all directions. At Værøy Airport, three passengers disembarked, two passengers boarded and the plane fueled. There was also a passenger in transit from Røst to Bodø, so the total ridership was three passengers, plus the two pilots.[3] Take-off weight was 4,548.5 kilograms (10,028 lb), including 640 kg (1,410 lb) of fuel.[4]
The aircraft taxied to runway 25. During the departure briefing, the captain decided not to follow the company's standard procedure and have a
The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre of Northern Norway in Bodø dispatched two helicopters and two ships, but one helicopter and one ship had to return due to bad weather.[6] At 16:45, parts of the aircraft were found 3.5 nautical miles (6.5 km) northwest of Værøy Airport.[5] After the weather improved, one rescue ship, four fishing vessels and one Westland Sea King were used to find the wreck. On 13 April, twelve ships and two helicopters were being used, and several parts from the wreck were found. This allowed the search crew to use divers to search for the wreck.[7][8] The aircraft was found on 15 April, 2,300 metres (7,500 ft) from the airport. Eighty percent of the wreck was found within an area of 300 by 400 m (980 by 1,310 ft) and at about 10 m (33 ft) depth.[9]
The deceased were Captain Idar Nils Persen (40), Co-pilot Arnt Vidar Grønneflåta (31), and passengers Stig Myrvoll (25), Frank Bakkeli (27) and Runa Dagny Søraa (23).[5][7] All passengers died immediately upon impact,[10] but the Captain's body was never found.[5]
Cause
The runway at Værøy Airport, that runs east–west, ran parallel to a mountain to the south that is about 500 m (1,600 ft) tall. Prior to construction, Widerøe had performed test flights in the area, and these had concluded with unacceptable wind conditions, particularly from the south over the mountain. From 31 October 1988, Widerøe introduced self-imposed restrictions on landing at Værøy. Aircraft were not allowed to land or take off if the wind came from 090°–240° (though south) if the wind speed exceeded 20 knots (10 m/s; 37 km/h), including gusts. Additional restrictions were introduced following an incident on 18 January 1989; these were again modified on 1 November 1989.[11] Flight 839 took off within the permitted limits of these restrictions. However, Twin Otters were not to operate on the ground during winds that exceeded 50 knots (26 m/s; 93 km/h), and since the aircraft started taxiing following a report of wind speeds of 57 knots (29 m/s; 106 km/h), this was a breach of procedure. The wind also changed direction immediately after take-off.[12]
The aircraft had not had any mechanical or technical errors or problems prior to take-off. The turbulence and wind shear caused a crack in either the tail rudder, the tailplane, or both. This was caused by strong winds acting on both sides of the structure, due to shifting winds. These structural failures caused the aircraft to crash. Out of the 63 seconds from take-off to impact, the aircraft was under control for the first 55 seconds; only during the last 8 seconds did the crew not have control over the aircraft.[13]
The
The Accident Investigation Board concluded:
The cause of the accident is that the plane during climb was subject to wind that exceeded the plane's construction criteria. This caused a crack in the tail rudder/tailplane causing the plane to become uncontrollable."[15]
Aftermath
New airport
Værøy Airport had opened on 1 July 1986 as part of the regional airport network in Northern Norway.
The report from the Accident Investigation Board was highly critical to the Norwegian Civil Aviation Administration, stating that the airport should never have been built where it was and that it was "clearly unsuitable for regular traffic". It stated that the administration had overlooked comments from meteorologists and test flights in the area that had concluded that the wind conditions in the area were not suitable for an airport. The commission that wrote the report and conducted the investigation, stated that the Civil Aviation Administration had not proceeded correctly while planning the airport—they had chosen Nordlandet early as a location and ignored negative comments. After the Norwegian Meteorological Institute had made a favorable report about the weather in the area, the administration had failed to conduct the necessary test flights to test the wind conditions, since this was not determined in the initial recommendation. The commission also commented that the safety division had been critical to the localization of the airport, but had withdrawn their disputes following pressure from higher ranks in the administration. The commission also criticized the Civil Aviation Administration for not conducting investigations following the reports of low regularity and the incidents in 1988 and 1989.[21]
No aircraft has ever taken off from Værøy Airport after the accident, except in June 1992, when a Cessna 172 brought 3 skydivers from Bodø Skydiving Club (Bodø Fallskjermklubb) to the island, accompanied by a Piper Cherokee 140 from Bodø Flyklubb and an experimental plane. The Cessna made 2 landings and take-offs, and dropped the skydivers over the runway at approx. 8000 feet. The Piper and experimental craft made at least one landing and take-off each, during a public show held close to the airport. In 1992, the
Second investigation
In an article published in the newspaper
Member of parliament,
References
- ^ Arnesen, 1984: 132
- ^ Accident Investigation Board Norway, 1991: 10–11
- ^ Accident Investigation Board Norway, 1991: 5–6
- ^ Accident Investigation Board Norway, 1991: 11
- ^ a b c d Accident Investigation Board Norway, 1991: 7–8
- ^ "En av fem fra Widerøe-havari funnet" (in Norwegian). Norwegian News Agency. 13 April 1990.
- ^ a b "Vrakrester funnet fra savnet Twin Otter-fly med fem i Lofoten" (in Norwegian). Norwegian News Agency. 13 April 1990.
- ^ "Dykkere skal settes inn for å lokalisere Widerøe-flyet" (in Norwegian). Norwegian News Agency. 13 April 1990.
- ^ Accident Investigation Board Norway, 1991: 16
- ^ Accident Investigation Board Norway, 1991: 20
- ^ Accident Investigation Board Norway, 1991: 36–38
- ^ Accident Investigation Board Norway, 1991: 44–47
- ^ Accident Investigation Board Norway, 1991: 49–50
- ^ Accident Investigation Board Norway, 1991: 50–53
- ^ Accident Investigation Board Norway, 1991: 59
- ^ Accident Investigation Board Norway, 1991: 36
- ^ Arnesen, 1984: 140
- ^ "Widerøe: Værøy innstilles inntil full avklaring" (in Norwegian). Norwegian News Agency. 13 April 1990.
- ^ a b "Widerøe oppgir Værøy, men ingen boikott av andre kortbaneflyplasser" (in Norwegian). Norwegian News Agency. 13 April 1990.
- ^ Evensen, Kjell (7 May 1990). "Mot flyplass-boikott". Dagens Næringsliv (in Norwegian).
- ^ Gustad, Ragnhild (1 March 1991). "Værøy-ulykka". Nordlys (in Norwegian).
- ^ Ingebrigtsen, Terje and Roger Mortensen (29 September 1997). "Værøy lufthavn stengt for fly". Verdens Gang (in Norwegian).
- ^ a b Sætra, Gunnar (24 May 1994). "Opseth må svare om Værøy-gransking" (in Norwegian). Norwegian News Agency.
- ^ Sætra, Gunnar (24 May 1994). "Havarikommisjonen: Vi visste om utmattingen" (in Norwegian). Norwegian News Agency.
- ^ a b "Krever ny Værøy-rapport". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). 25 May 1994. p. 24.
- ^ Kristoffersen, Oddvar (7 June 1994). "Værøy-ny granskning". Nordlys (in Norwegian). p. 5.
- ^ Foglerø, Arnt (11 June 1994). "Gjenopptar granskin". Nordlys (in Norwegian). Norwegian News Agency. p. 28.
- ^ "Værøy-ulykken skal granskes i Nederland" (in Norwegian). Norwegian News Agency. 23 June 1994.
- ^ Veigård, Erik (23 March 1995). "Konklusjon fra Værøyhavariet bekreftes" (in Norwegian). Norwegian News Agency.
- ^ "Journalistpris til Fremover". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). 26 March 1995. p. 4.
- ^ Guhnfeldt, Cato (12 August 1995). "Værøy-rapport får full støtte". Aftenposten (in Norwegian). p. 5.
Bibliography
- Accident Investigation Board Norway (25 February 1991). "Rapport of luftfartsulykke ved Værøy lufthavn den 12. april 1990 med Twin Otter LN-BNS" [Report of aviation accident at Værøy Airport on 12 April 1990 with Twin Otter LN-BNS] (in Norwegian). Norwegian Safety Investigation Authority. Archived from the original on 10 May 2018. Retrieved 12 August 2013.
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: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)() - Arnesen, Odd (1984). På grønne vinger over Norge (in Norwegian). Widerøe's Flyveselskap.