Sumburgh

The operating company were involved in a Royal Mail contract to deliver mail from Aberdeen to Shetland Islands each day. The crew involved in the accident had flown LN-PBB from Stauning Airport in Denmark to Aberdeen in preparation for a two week period of duty delivering the mail; they arrived at Aberdeen at 1700 hrs on 5 September 1999. The next morning, the crew arrived for duty at approximately 0540 hrs and completed their normal checks of LN-PBB. Shortly after this, the mail arrived and was escorted to the aircraft by the company ground crew. The mail bags were sorted and loaded into the aircraft by the flight and ground crew under the supervision of the commander; the mail had been weighed by Royal Mail and the commander was given written confirmation of the total weight of 1,196 kg. At the completion of the loading, the commander was satisfied that the load was secure and correctly distributed. Prior to departure for Sumburgh Airport, the commander had checked the weather and was aware that it was 'poor' at Sumburgh but the indications were that it would improve; additionally, the weather at Kirkwall Airport was clear if they needed to divert. The aircraft appeared fully serviceable during start, taxi and take off from Aberdeen at 0640 hrs; for the flight to Sumburgh, the commander was the handling pilot. Cruise was at Flight Level (FL)90and, about half way to Sumburgh, ATC advised the crew of the latest weather at Sumburgh which indicated that they would not be able to land there. However, there was a preceding aircraft heading for the same destination and the commander elected to continue towards Sumburgh. Then, once the preceding aircraft crew had declared that they were diverting to Aberdeen, the commander decided to divert to Kirkwall. The diversion was uneventful and the aircraft landed at 0807 hrs. At Kirkwall, the crew uplifted sufficient fuel to bring the total up to the same with which they had left Aberdeen (1,200lb) and waited for a weather improvement at Sumburgh. By approximately 0930hrs, the crew were advised by Kirkwall ATC that the weather had improved at Sumburgh and they prepared the aircraft for departure. Take off was at 0950 hrs with the co-pilot as handling pilot. Cruise was at FL 70 and was uneventful up to the approach and landing. The airport was using Runway 27 as that is the only runway with full ILS. The ATIS information at 1020 hrs was broadcasting the following information: surface wind 340°/07 kt; 9,000 metres in rain; cloud few at 300 feet, scattered at 1,000 feet and broken at 1,600 feet; temperature 12°, dew point 12°; tempo cloud broken 1,500 feet with a wet runway. In accordance with ATC instructions, the crew commenced their descent to 2,000 feet amsl where they were instructed to intercept the ILS from a heading of 300°. Once fully established on the ILS, the commander noted that the co-pilot was having a little difficulty maintaining the aircraft on both the localizer and glide slope. The co-pilot was not sure of the height at which they broke cloud but the commander estimated that they were at 500 feet agl. At this point, the co-pilot considered that they were slightly high and fast; subsequently, the commander estimated the aircraft airspeed as 140 kt as they became visual with the runway. During the final approach, the air traffic controller gave three separate wind reports of 010°/11 kt, 010°/11 kt and010°/10 kt; these reports were based on the two minute mean surface winds. As the aircraft crossed the runway threshold, the co-pilot called out that he had too much speed and that "it wasn't going to work". With no reply from the commander, the co-pilot took this lack of response as an indication that the commander was content. For his part, the commander was concentrating on the runway aspect and, although he heard a comment from the co-pilot, did not make any response. The crew considered that touchdown was approximately halfway down the runway and the co-pilot was aware of the aircraft bouncing before a second touchdown; neither pilot could recall the speed at touchdown. Both pilots applied full foot braking but with little apparent result in retardation. Then, as the aircraft approached the end of the runway, the commander took control and applied full power; this was because he was aware of the concrete blocks positioned off the end of the runway as a sea defence and wished to clear them. The aircraft was now yawed slightly left and positioned to the left of the runway centreline. It left the runway surface, travelled across grass and a public road and came to rest on the concrete blocks.

Due to poor weather at destination, the crew was forced to divert to Sumburgh Airport. On approach, the crew encountered technical problems with the undercarriage and only the right main gear lowered and locked down. In such conditions, the crew decided to complete a belly landing. After touchdown, the airplane slid for few dozen yards before coming to rest. All seven occupants escaped uninjured and the aircraft was later considered as damaged beyond repair.

The aircraft was engaged on a series of charter flights, carrying oil company personnel between Aberdeen, Scotland and Sumburgh, Shetland Islands. The inbound flight to Sumburgh had been made without incident and no significant malfunction of the aircraft had been reported. The crew, consisting of two pilots and a stewardess, then had a stopover of nearly seven hours before departing on the return flight, Dan-Air 0034, with 44 passengers on board. It has not been established who was the handling pilot on this sector. At 15:48 hrs, in conditions of moderate visibility, but with low cloud, rain and a fresh easterly wind, the aircraft was taxied out to the holding point 'India', the intersection of the disused runway and runway 15/33. Meanwhile the stewardess gave the company's standard safety briefing, using a megaphone because the passenger address (PA) system was 'screeching'. The briefing included mention of the location of the lifejackets, how they should be put on, and the method of inflation; also mentioned was the location of the emergency exits. A diagram displaying the method of donning the jackets was fixed to the forward bulkhead of the cabin. Because of other aircraft movements, 'KF' was held at point 'India' for six minutes before being cleared, at 15:57 hrs, to 'enter and backtrack' for a take-off on runway 09, which was virtually into wind. Whilst the aircraft was backtracking, ATC passed the crew the en route clearance, which was read back correctly by the co-pilot. The aircraft was seen to turn close to the western end of the runway and line up on the runway heading. At 15:59 hrs the flight received take-off clearance from ATC and this was acknowledged by the co-pilot. There is evidence to show that the engines were accelerated whilst the aircraft was held stationary on the brakes and that full take-off power, using watermethanol, was achieved on the take-off run, which commenced at almost exactly 16:00 hrs. Evidence from the aircraft's Flight Data Recorder (FDR) shows that the aircraft accelerated normally through the decision speed, V1 (92 kts), to the rotation and safety speed VR/2 (99 kts). No rotation was carried out and even though the aircraft reached a speed significantly higher than VR of the order of 113 kts, it failed to become airborne. About 5 seconds after reaching the scheduled rotation speed, and after passing the intersection with the disused runway, the aircraft began to decelerate. Veering gradually to the left as it crossed the grass overrun area, it then made contact with a discontinuity or 'step', approximately 40 centimetres high, at the edge of the airfield perimeter road and partial collapse of the undercarriage followed. After crossing the road in a left wing low and nose down attitude the aircraft passed over the inclined sea defences and came to rest in the sea some 50 metres from the shore line. The emergency services arrived at the point on the road adjacent to the crash site within two minutes of the accident. However, about a minute later the aircraft sank, nose first, in some ten metres of water, leaving only the rear section of the fuselage visible. Twenty-nine passengers and the stewardess were rescued, or managed to swim to the shore, under adverse weather conditions. Despite rescue attempts mounted from the shore, by small craft and by helicopters summoned to the scene, fifteen passengers and the two pilots died by drowning.

The airplane departed RAF Tain to attack the German battleship Tirpitz moored in the Fættenfjord northeast of Trondheim. While returning to base the following night, the crew reported his position over Sumburgh at 0210LT then contact was lost. The airplane crashed in unknown circumstances into the sea some 16 miles south of Sumburgh Head. No trace of the airplane nor the crew was ever found.
Crew:
S/L Arthur Patrick Burdett, pilot,
P/O Norman Frederick Bowsher, pilot,
Sgt Leonard William Hanson, flight engineer,
F/Sgt William John Cadger, navigator,
F/Sgt Leonard Watson Fletcher, wireless operator,
Sgt Stanley Davis, wireless operator,
Sgt Dennis Clifford Martin, air gunner.

The airplane departed RAF Kinloss to attack the German battleship Tirpitz moored in the Fættenfjord northeast of Trondheim. While returning to base at Sumburgh, the crew encountered poor visibility. On final approach to the airfield, the airplane crashed on the 1,000 feet high Fitful Head located about 5 km northwest of the airport. All seven crew members were killed.
Crew:
F/Sgt Joseph Bryan Bushby, pilot,
Sgt Anthony John Peach, pilot,
Sgt Geoffrey Noel Edward Powell, navigator,
Sgt Ronald Meredith, flight engineer,
P/O Moses Lewis Usher, wireless operator,
F/Sgt John Peter Burton Buckley, wireless operator,
Sgt John Allan Wood, air gunner.

The airplane departed Sumburgh Airport on a maritime patrol flight off the Norwegian coast. While returning to base, it was shot down by a German fighter. The pilot attempted an emergency landing on Grunay Island when the airplane crashed and burnt. All three crew members were killed.
Crew:
F/Sgt Charles Douglas Grant Brown, pilot,
F/Sgt James Henry Oliver, observer,
Sgt Thomas William Coy, wireless operator and air gunner.

The airplane departed Sumburgh on a reconnaissance mission over the Trondheim area. While approaching the city, it was shot down by the German Flak and crashed. All three crew members were killed.
Crew:
F/O Kenneth Ian Mackenzie, pilot,
Sgt James William Barrie Craig, observer,
AC2 Herbert John Twinn. air gunner.

While returning to Sumburgh, the crew was forced to ditch the airplane off St Abbs due to fuel exhaustion. All three crew members were rescued. The aircraft was recovered but was considered as damaged beyond repair.
Crew:
P/O Richard Haviland, pilot,
P/O M. L Wells, observer,
Sgt Archibald Kay, wireless operator and air gunner.

The twin engine airplane departed Sumburgh on a maritime patrol flight. It was shot down by the pilot of a Me.110 and crashed into the sea off the Shetland Islands. All four crew members were killed.
Crew:
P/O Robert Munro Buchanan, pilot,
P/O Loris Jardine Ernest Ewing, pilot,
Sgt Donald Clifford Sinclair, observer,
Sgt Robert Glenday Ireland, wireless operator and air gunner.

The airplane departed Sumburgh on a raid over German positions in Norway. Approaching Stavanger-Sola Airport, it was shot down by enemy fire and crashed into the sea. Two crew members bailed out and survived while a third was killed.
Crew:
P/O Vincent James Pattison, pilot, †
Sgt R. D. McLaren, observer,
Sgt A. P. Savage, wireless operator and air gunner.