Crash of a De Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter 300 off Værøy: 5 killed
Date & Time:
Apr 12, 1990 at 1444 LT
Operator:
Registration:
LN-BNS
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Værøy – Bodø
MSN:
536
YOM:
1977
Flight number:
WF839
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
3
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
5
Captain / Total hours on type:
1269.00
Copilot / Total hours on type:
354
Aircraft flight hours:
27304
Aircraft flight cycles:
58709
Circumstances:
Less than two minutes after takeoff from Værøy Airport runway 25, while climbing in marginal weather conditions, the aircraft banked left then entered an uncontrolled descent and crashed in the sea in a near vertical attitude about 1,8 km from the airport. The aircraft was destroyed and all five occupants were killed. When the crew started to roll at the airport, the wind was gusting to 57 knots which was 7 knots above the maximum allowable limit for ground operations. After takeoff, the aircraft encountered wind gusting to 34 knots which was 14 knots above the maximum allowable limit for flight operations. Excessive wind component caused the stabilizers/elevator to fail, causing the aircraft to enter an uncontrolled descent and to crash in the sea.
Probable cause:
The cause of the accident was that the plane during departure came into the wind that exceeded the aircraft's design criteria. Thus there was a break in the horizontal stabilizer / elevator which meant that the plane could no longer be controlled.
Final Report:
