Atlantic Airways Flight 670

Infobox Airliner accident|name=Atlantic Airways Flight 670
Crash

---

Image caption=OY-CRG BAE 146-200.
Date=October 10, 2006
Type=Runway overrun
Site=Stord Airport, Sørstokken| Fatalities=4
Injuries=12
Aircraft Type=British Aerospace 146-200A
Origin=Stavanger Airport, Sola
Destination=Stord Airport, Sørstokken
Operator=Atlantic Airways
Tail Number=OY-CRG
Passengers=12
Crew=4
Survivors=12

Atlantic Airways Flight 670 [ [http://www.atlantic.fo/Default.asp?sida=142 Atlantic Airways press release] , October 10, 2006] was a chartered flight between Stavanger Airport, Sola and Molde Airport, Årø with an intermediate landing at Stord Airport, Sørstokken. At 07:35, on October 10, 2006, the aircraft, a British Aerospace 146-200, slid off the runway and burst into flames while landing at Stord in Norway.

Incidents

The aircraft had 16 people on board, 12 passengers and a crew of 4. Atlantic Airways chief Magni Arge said that eleven of the passengers were Norwegian and one foreigner. Three of the crew members were Faroese, and one was a Dane. [ [http://www.atlantic.fo/Default.asp?sida=142 Press release from Atlantic Airways] October 10, 2006] News reports first indicated that 13 people had been rescued. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6036321.stm Norway runway blaze kills three] , October 12, 2006] Later it emerged that only 12 people, among them the pilots, had been rescued from the fire and that four died - three Norwegian passengers [ [http://www.bt.no/lokalt/article304975.ece The missed is found dead] Bergens Tidende, October 10, 2006] and one Faroese flight attendant [ [http://www.portal.fo/mitt.php?greinar=&les_grein=33239 One Faroese stewardess dead] Portal.fo, October 10, 2006] . The aircraft was one of several carrying construction workers for Aker Kværner Stord to construction at Aukra related to the Ormen Lange field. [ [http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/iriks/article1489818.ece Ill-fated aircraft headed for Molde] Aftenposten, October 10, 2006]

The pilot of another Atlantic Airways flight which landed 20 minutes earlier did not report any unusual landing conditions at the airport though the runway was wet from rain. [ [http://www.bt.no/lokalt/article304894.ece Everything was as normal] Bergens Tidende, October 10, 2006] On September 2, about a month prior to this accident, an Atlantic Airways flight was forced to make an emergency landing at Bergen Airport, Flesland due to failure to extend the flaps. [ [http://www.nrk.no/nyheter/innenriks/1.1098797 Samme selskap nødlandet i september] NRK, October 10, 2006] Although the flaps can be considered a part of the braking system, they are mainly used in the air, to increase lift to enable a lower flight and landing speed. The flaps failure in September 2006 was detected before the scheduled landing at Vágar Airport as a part of the in-flight checks and the plane redirected to Bergen because its airport had longer runways, required for the higher expected landing speed. The same plane as on September 2nd made a second emergency landing 3 days later in Bergen with the same problem. This plane was not the one involved in the accident in Stord. Failure to extend the flaps is a known problem of the BAe-146 and is avoided by adjusting the flaps mechanism precisely every two years and lubricating it for every 10th flight. Apparently Atlantic Airways had problems with these adjustments in September.

The condition of the airport's fire station and control tower have also been criticized, and there was in fact a newspaper article, written hours "before" the crash, reporting that funding to upgrade the facilities had been denied. [ [http://www.bt.no/na24/article304784.ece Broke Airport at Stord] Bergens Tidende, October 10, 2006]

The black boxes, the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder, both sustained serious heat damage in the fire, and it was feared they were so damaged that no data could be extracted from them. However, much of the data was still retrievable. [ [http://www.aftenposten.no/nyheter/iriks/article1493191.ece Black boxes contain data] Aftenposten, October 12, 2006] [ [http://shstage.publicus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061023/NYHENDE/61023005&SearchID=73261177043947 Inspector satisfied] Sunnhordland, October 23, 2006]

According to the Faroese newspaper "Dimmalætting", the aircraft was 20 years old, and was the first one purchased by Atlantic Airways in 1988. Early in the 1990s the same plane slid off the runway at Vágar Airport, but nobody was injured. The reason for the 1990s accident was that the pilot landed too far along the runway due to bad weather conditions.

At the international football match on October 11 between France and the Faroes, a minute's silence was held in memory of the dead. [ [http://www.sportal.fo/mitt.php?greinar=&les_grein=33248 Silence before the match] Portal.fo, October 10, 2006]

On 17 January 2007, the readers of the Faroese newspaper "Dimmalætting" voted the two stewardesses, Maibritt Magnussen and Guðrun Joensen †, the "Faroese persons of the year" (ársins føroyingar). [ [http://www.portal.fo/?lg=36049 Guðrun and Maibritt are Faroese of the Year] Portal.fo, January 17, 2007]

Official Investigation

The initial findings of October 10, 2006 show that the spoilers failed to engage. Evidence from pilots and technical findings shows that the spoilers failed to reduce lift and thus reduced braking capacity. The reason for the spoiler failure was probably a hard landing. The plane did not have ground contact when the captain tried to release the flaps. Water on the runway also reduced braking capacity. The air brakes seem to have engaged properly. [ [http://www.aibn.no/default.asp?FILE=items/1549/172/Pressemelding_Stord.pdf Press Release from SHT] October 17 2006, Norwegian]

The voice and flight data recorders contain information that confirms statements given by the pilot and eyewitnesses, that the spoilers failed to engage on touch-down at the short runway in Stord, Norway. Norwegian air-crash investigator Birger Andreas Bull explains that 30 minutes of the voice recordings could be heard, 1 hour of data from the day before could be saved from the flight data recorder, but only 12 seconds of the approach and 3 seconds right before the crash were recoverable. Bull said that even though it sounds like little information, it contains significant data about course, speed, motor settings and spoilers, and other technical information. [ [http://www.vg.no/pub/vgart.hbs?artid=136019 Hele flyulykken på bånd] November 1 2006, Norwegian]

On October 25, 2007 Havarikommisjonen (Norwegian Accident Investigation Board) released a preliminary report. According to the report, burning fuel in the cabin was the main reason three passengers and one crew member died and six others were badly injured. All six spoilers failed under landing, but it remains unknown why this happened. Under landing, the rubber on the wheels "boiled", and pieces of the wheel rubber was found along the runway. It is believed that this may have happened as a result of the failed spoilers.The pilot did not receive information that the runway was wet and it was therefore assumed it was dry. The weight of the airplane was within the allowed limit when landing on a dry runway, but was around 500 kg (1102 lbs) too heavy for a wet runway. It is unknown what role this played in the accident. It is not known when the final report will be finished [cite web
url=http://www.aibn.no/default.asp?FILE=items/2494/172/OY-CRG%20foreløpig%20rapport.pdf
title=OY-CRG Foreløpig rapport
publisher=Norwegian Accident Investigation Board
date=2007-10-25
format=PDF
language=Norwegian] .

See also

*Aviation in Norway

References

External links

* [http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article1489808.ece Plane overshoots runway, bursts into flames] Aftenposten October 10 2006, English article
* [http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=20061010-0 Aviation-safety.net entry on the crash]
* [http://ntsb.gov/ntsb/brief.asp?ev_id=20061011X01495&key=1 NTSB brief]
* [http://www.airdisaster.com/cgi-bin/view_details.cgi?date=10102006®=OY-CRG&airline=Atlantic+Airways Airdisaster.com]