Luxembourg-Findel

The four engine aircraft landed on a slippery runway due to wet snow. It went out of control, veered off runway and lost its nose gear before coming to rest. All occupants escaped uninjured while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Following an uneventful charter flight from Luxembourg, the crew completed a landing by night on a wet runway. After touchdown, the airplane encountered difficulties to decelerate and overran. It lost its undercarriage and came to rest few dozen yards further. All 69 occupants were evacuated safely while the aircraft was considered as damaged beyond repair. At the time of the accident, the horizontal visibility was estimated to 1,800 meters with clouds at 300 feet. It is believed the aircraft suffered aquaplaning after landing while the flaps were retracted in the takeoff position and the brakes were applied intermittently.

While flying at an altitude of 6,000 feet, the four engine aircraft christened 'Geysir' hit the northwest slope of the Vatnajökull glacier, in the southeast part of Iceland. As the airplane failed to arrive, SAR operations were conducted but due to poor weather conditions, the wreckage was spotted four days later only . As the crash site was difficult to reach, the first rescuers arrived on site two days later, on September 20. The aircraft was destroyed but all six crew members survived because the cargo turned out to contain expensive furs and Swiss chocolate. The crew was performing a cargo flight from Luxembourg to New York with an intermediate stop in Reykjavik.