Widerøe Flight 839
Encyclopedia
Widerøe Flight 839, also known as the Værøy Accident , was a crash into water of a de Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otter just after take-off from Værøy Airport
in Norway
. The incident occurred on 12 April 1990 at 14:44, and killed all five people on board. The cause of the accident were strong winds that exceeded the structure's tolerance, causing the tail rudder and tailplane
to crack so the plane became uncontrollable. Impact occurred 63 seconds after take-off and 8 seconds after the crack. The aircraft crashed into the water, and a search was conducted for several days to find the wreck.
Uneven and strong winds had given the airport low regularity, and prior to take-off, wind speeds of 57 knots (31 m/s) had been recorded.The accident caused the airport to be permanently closed, and replaced by Værøy Heliport
. The incident was investigated by the Accident Investigation Board Norway, who published their conclusions in 1991. Three years later, a new investigation was conducted, after an engineer had stated that the cause of the accident could instead have been fatigue
. The second investigation came to the same conclusion as the first and all involved parties have since supported the causes made in the initial report.
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. It was insured with Norsk Flyforsikringspool
. 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 kn (9.8 to 14.2 )—a moderate gale
. When the plane landed at 14:30, the tower had stated that the wind was from 270° and max 23 knots (12.5 m/s). 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. Take-off weight was 4548.5 kilograms (10,027.7 lb), including 640 kilograms (1,411 lb) of fuel.
The aircraft taxied to runway 25. During the departure briefing, the captain decided to not follow the company's standard procedure and have a climb
at 320° instead of 280°. Maximum measured wind had been recorded at 57 knots (31 m/s) while the aircraft had been parked. The aircraft asked for clearance at 14:42:10; this was granted, and the air control informed that the wind at the west end was between 210° and 290°, varying from 18 to 34 kn (9.8 to 18.5 ). The eastern wind was not communicated to the aircraft, but was 270°, varying from 20 to 40 kn (10.9 to 21.8 ). The take-off started at 14:42:43 and the aircraft was airborne after having passed half the runway. Witnesses described that the aircraft after take-off climbed quickly, but then started falling, and then climbed quickly again. It then entered clouds west of the airport. During climb, the captain wanted to keep the flaps at 10°, contradictory to standard procedure that involved decreasing the flaps. At 14:43:09, a rattling sound was registered on the cockpit voice recorder
(CVR). Thirty-five seconds later, sounds from unsynchronized propellers were registered. The co-pilot indicates that the flight was in difficulty. Eight seconds later, at 14:43:52, the CVR stopped recording. At 14:43:54, the control tower at Værøy registered a distress signal, that lasted four seconds, followed by a loud bang. The aircraft was then repeatedly called by radio. At 14:50, Bodø Air Traffic Control Center
was contacted.
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 the bad weather that soon had increased to a hurricane. At 16:45, parts of the aircraft were found 3.5 nautical miles (6.5 km) northwest of Værøy Airport. 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 searching crew to use divers search for the wreck. The aircraft was found on 15 April, 2300 metres (7,545.9 ft) from the airport. Eighty percent of the wreck was found within an area of 300 by and at about 10 metres (32.8 ft) depth.
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). All passengers died immediately upon impact, but the Captain's body was never found.
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.
The Accident Investigation Board Norway stated in its report that the crew should not have landed with the amounts of wind that were reported, and that they definitively should not have taken off. However, since the wind came from the west, which by pilots was reported to cause less problems than from other directions, they may have decided to ignore the wind exceeding the permitted values. In particular, the Accident Investigation Board criticized the choice of taxing in 57 knots (31 m/s), 7 knots (3.8 m/s) above the permitted wind speed for ground operation and far over the permitted levels for take-off from the airport. The board commented that although it was common to cancel flights to Værøy, no flights had been canceled after the plane had landed, instead being canceled prior to landing. The board commented that the flight being the last before Easter
, it may have influenced the pilots' sense of duty towards getting the passengers to their destinations. This may have been aggravated by the very low regularity that was at Værøy. The board also commented that pilots did not trust the wind data they received, since they often experienced it to be incorrect and that the wind could vary considerably within the airport. While the plane was at the ground, it had been raining. Pilots at Værøy often experienced that weather was better between rain showers, and there were indications that the captain wanted to take-off before the next rain shower hit.
The Accident Investigation Board concluded:
s. All services to the airport were suspended immediately after the incident. On 7 May, Widerøe stated that they would not use Værøy Airport, and that they would decline the concession
to operate to Værøy if the island community did not receive a new airport. They commented that the restrictions caused by the wind forced the airline to terminate up to half the departures. The chairman of the Widerøe's Pilots' Union, Helge Høvik, stated the same day that the airline might have to lower the number of calls at some other regional airports, namely Mosjøen Airport, Kjærstad
, Mo i Rana Airport, Røssvold, Sandnessjøen Airport, Stokka
and Sandane Airport, Anda
. Høvik stated that he felt that many of the airports were located in the wrong places, for instance at the bottom of valleys, on top of hills and between mountains. Widerøe stated that there was not a safety problem at any other regional airports.
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.
No plane 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, accompagnied by a Piper 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 Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications
decided to permanently close the airport, after it had been temporarily closed since the accident. In 1995, Værøy Heliport
was opened further south on the island, and Helikopter Service was awarded the public service obligation
to operate the route. The helicopter service sometimes uses the closed airport as a reserve airport during bad weather.
in May 1994, the English aviation engineer Hugh Tyrer stated that the cause of the accident was probably due to fatigue
in the end piece of the transfer mechanism to the elevator
. The end piece was in such a state that it would have failed sooner or later in ordinary use. Following this discovery in the wreck, Widerøe had grounded all their Twin Otters and checked these pieces, but without finding any other defect parts. de Havilland Canada
had also sent an alert to all operators of the Twin Otter to check the component, and had canceled the contract with the subcontractor. On 800 operating Twin Otters, 86 end pieces were replaced shortly after the accident, although none had fatigue similar to that of LN-BNS. The commission's chair, Ragnar Rygnestad, stated that they had not considered the end piece to be part of the cause of the accident, and that they therefore had not stress-tested it or the elevator to see what forces were needed to cause a crack. Rygnestad stated that the board knew about the fatigue. He also said that he had no problems with the opening of a new inquiry. Widerøe stated that they trusted the report from the Accident Investigation Board.
Member of parliament, Inge Myrvoll
, and president of the Norwegian Airline Pilots Association
, Peter Helland, both stated that the Accident Investigation Board should make a new inquiry about the accident. Helland stated that the report's credibility was weakened due to the influence de Havilland Canada had during the process. On 10 June, the commission reopened the case, after having held meetings with Tyrer. The commission stated that there was disagreement as to if the tail rudder and tail plane or the end piece had cracked first, which would be crucial in determining the cause of the accident. Among the inquiries would be to re-investigate the tape of cockpit sound with new technology. The Accident Investigation Board used the National Aerospace Laboratory
in the Netherlands to conduct tests on the end pieces. The report from the National Aerospace Laboratory was published on 23 March 1995, and supported the conclusion in the commissions report. The journalist Oddvar Kristoffersen in Fremover won the SKUP Award
for 1994 for his work related to uncovering the controversy. The pilots' union in Widerøe was initially critical to the report, but by July it stated that it supported the conclusion. In addition, Det Norske Veritas
withdrew its critical comments concerning the commission. With this, all officially involved parties supported the report.
Værøy Airport
Værøy Airport is a closed regional airport on the island of Værøy in Norway. It was used between 1986 and 1990 and was operated by the Municipality of Værøy. It was plagued with low regularity caused by difficult wind conditions. Following the fatal Widerøe Flight 839 accident, the airport was...
in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. The incident occurred on 12 April 1990 at 14:44, and killed all five people on board. The cause of the accident were strong winds that exceeded the structure's tolerance, causing the tail rudder and tailplane
Tailplane
A tailplane, also known as horizontal stabilizer , is a small lifting surface located on the tail behind the main lifting surfaces of a fixed-wing aircraft as well as other non-fixed wing aircraft such as helicopters and gyroplanes...
to crack so the plane became uncontrollable. Impact occurred 63 seconds after take-off and 8 seconds after the crack. The aircraft crashed into the water, and a search was conducted for several days to find the wreck.
Uneven and strong winds had given the airport low regularity, and prior to take-off, wind speeds of 57 knots (31 m/s) had been recorded.The accident caused the airport to be permanently closed, and replaced by Værøy Heliport
Værøy Heliport
Værøy Heliport is a heliport on the island of Værøy in Nordland county in Norway. The airport had 8,372 passengers in 2005....
. The incident was investigated by the Accident Investigation Board Norway, who published their conclusions in 1991. Three years later, a new investigation was conducted, after an engineer had stated that the cause of the accident could instead have been fatigue
Fatigue (material)
'In materials science, fatigue is the progressive and localized structural damage that occurs when a material is subjected to cyclic loading. The nominal maximum stress values are less than the ultimate tensile stress limit, and may be below the yield stress limit of the material.Fatigue occurs...
. The second investigation came to the same conclusion as the first and all involved parties have since supported the causes made in the initial report.
Accident
Widerøe Flight 839 was a scheduled flight from Værøy AirportVærøy Airport
Værøy Airport is a closed regional airport on the island of Værøy in Norway. It was used between 1986 and 1990 and was operated by the Municipality of Værøy. It was plagued with low regularity caused by difficult wind conditions. Following the fatal Widerøe Flight 839 accident, the airport was...
to Bodø Airport
Bodø Airport
Bodø Airport is civil airport in Bodø, Norway. Located just south of the city centre, on the westernmost tip of the peninsula Bodø lies on, it shares facilities with the military air force base Bodø Main Air Station. The airport has a single concrete, runway which runs in a roughly east-west...
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. It was insured with Norsk Flyforsikringspool
Norsk Flyforsikringspool
Norsk Flyforsikringspool was an insurance pool created by Norwegian insurance companies to handle pooling of aircraft insurance. It was established in 1919 and dissolved in 1996....
. The aircraft left Bodø Airport at 13:36 as Flight 838 to Røst Airport
Røst Airport
Røst Airport is a regional airport serving the island and municipality of Røst in Nordland, Norway. It is owned and operated by Avinor. Services are provided by Widerøe, operating de Havilland Canada DHC-8-100 Dash 8 aircraft on contract with the Ministry of Transport and Communications. Services...
, 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 kn (9.8 to 14.2 )—a moderate gale
Gale
A gale is a very strong wind. There are conflicting definitions of how strong a wind must be to be considered a gale. The U.S. government's National Weather Service defines a gale as 34–47 knots of sustained surface winds. Forecasters typically issue gale warnings when winds of this strength are...
. When the plane landed at 14:30, the tower had stated that the wind was from 270° and max 23 knots (12.5 m/s). 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. Take-off weight was 4548.5 kilograms (10,027.7 lb), including 640 kilograms (1,411 lb) of fuel.
The aircraft taxied to runway 25. During the departure briefing, the captain decided to not follow the company's standard procedure and have a climb
Climb
thumb|right|An [[Embraer ERJ 145]] climbingIn aviation, the term climb refers both to the actual operation of increasing the altitude of an aircraft and to the logical phase of a typical flight following take-off and preceding the cruise, during which an increase in altitude to a predetermined...
at 320° instead of 280°. Maximum measured wind had been recorded at 57 knots (31 m/s) while the aircraft had been parked. The aircraft asked for clearance at 14:42:10; this was granted, and the air control informed that the wind at the west end was between 210° and 290°, varying from 18 to 34 kn (9.8 to 18.5 ). The eastern wind was not communicated to the aircraft, but was 270°, varying from 20 to 40 kn (10.9 to 21.8 ). The take-off started at 14:42:43 and the aircraft was airborne after having passed half the runway. Witnesses described that the aircraft after take-off climbed quickly, but then started falling, and then climbed quickly again. It then entered clouds west of the airport. During climb, the captain wanted to keep the flaps at 10°, contradictory to standard procedure that involved decreasing the flaps. At 14:43:09, a rattling sound was registered on the cockpit voice recorder
Cockpit voice recorder
A cockpit voice recorder , often referred to as a "black box", is a flight recorder used to record the audio environment in the flight deck of an aircraft for the purpose of investigation of accidents and incidents...
(CVR). Thirty-five seconds later, sounds from unsynchronized propellers were registered. The co-pilot indicates that the flight was in difficulty. Eight seconds later, at 14:43:52, the CVR stopped recording. At 14:43:54, the control tower at Værøy registered a distress signal, that lasted four seconds, followed by a loud bang. The aircraft was then repeatedly called by radio. At 14:50, Bodø Air Traffic Control Center
Bodø Air Traffic Control Center
Bodø Air Traffic Control Center or Bodø ATCC en route air traffic control unit located at Bodø Airport in Bodø, in North Norway.The ATCC has a total of 36 airports under its area of responsibility - 13 controlled and 23 uncontrolled, regional airports - including Svalbard Airport, Longyear...
was contacted.
The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre of Northern Norway
Joint Rescue Coordination Centre of Northern Norway
The Joint Rescue Coordination Centre of Northern Norway or JRCC NN is a rescue coordination centre located in Bodø responsible for coordinating search and rescue operations in the northern part of Norway; it is responsible for coordinating search and rescue operations within Norway's Search and...
in Bodø dispatched two helicopters and two ships, but one helicopter and one ship had to return due to the bad weather that soon had increased to a hurricane. At 16:45, parts of the aircraft were found 3.5 nautical miles (6.5 km) northwest of Værøy Airport. After the weather improved, one rescue ship, four fishing vessels and one Westland Sea King
Westland Sea King
The Westland WS-61 Sea King is a British licence-built version of the American Sikorsky S-61 helicopter of the same name, built by Westland Helicopters. The aircraft differs considerably from the American version, with Rolls-Royce Gnome engines , British made anti-submarine warfare systems and a...
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 searching crew to use divers search for the wreck. The aircraft was found on 15 April, 2300 metres (7,545.9 ft) from the airport. Eighty percent of the wreck was found within an area of 300 by and at about 10 metres (32.8 ft) depth.
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). All passengers died immediately upon impact, but the Captain's body was never found.
Cause
The runway at Værøy Airport, that runs east–west, ran parallel to a mountain to the south that is about 500 metres (1,640.4 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 (10.9 m/s), including gusts. Additional restrictions were introduced following an incident on 18 January 1989; these were again modified on 1 November 1989. 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 (27.2 m/s), and since the aircraft started taxing following a report of wind speeds of 57 knots (31 m/s), this was a breach of procedure. The wind also changed direction immediately after take-off.The aircraft had not had any mechanical or technical errors or problems prior to take-off. The turbulence
Turbulence
In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is a flow regime characterized by chaotic and stochastic property changes. This includes low momentum diffusion, high momentum convection, and rapid variation of pressure and velocity in space and time...
and wind shear
Wind shear
Wind shear, sometimes referred to as windshear or wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere...
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.
The Accident Investigation Board Norway stated in its report that the crew should not have landed with the amounts of wind that were reported, and that they definitively should not have taken off. However, since the wind came from the west, which by pilots was reported to cause less problems than from other directions, they may have decided to ignore the wind exceeding the permitted values. In particular, the Accident Investigation Board criticized the choice of taxing in 57 knots (31 m/s), 7 knots (3.8 m/s) above the permitted wind speed for ground operation and far over the permitted levels for take-off from the airport. The board commented that although it was common to cancel flights to Værøy, no flights had been canceled after the plane had landed, instead being canceled prior to landing. The board commented that the flight being the last before Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
, it may have influenced the pilots' sense of duty towards getting the passengers to their destinations. This may have been aggravated by the very low regularity that was at Værøy. The board also commented that pilots did not trust the wind data they received, since they often experienced it to be incorrect and that the wind could vary considerably within the airport. While the plane was at the ground, it had been raining. Pilots at Værøy often experienced that weather was better between rain showers, and there were indications that the captain wanted to take-off before the next rain shower hit.
The Accident Investigation Board concluded:
The cause of the accident is that the plane during climb was subject to wind that succeeded the planes construction criteria. This caused a crack in the tail rudder/tailplane causing the plane to become uncontrollable."
New airport
Værøy Airport had opened on 1 July 1986 as part of the regional airport network in Northern Norway operated by Widerøe. Prior to this, Værøy and Røst had been served by helicopters using a heliport; that had replaced previous services with seaplaneSeaplane
A seaplane is a fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing on water. Seaplanes that can also take off and land on airfields are a subclass called amphibian aircraft...
s. All services to the airport were suspended immediately after the incident. On 7 May, Widerøe stated that they would not use Værøy Airport, and that they would decline the concession
Concession (contract)
A concession is a business operated under a contract or license associated with a degree of exclusivity in business within a certain geographical area. For example, sports arenas or public parks may have concession stands. Many department stores contain numerous concessions operated by other...
to operate to Værøy if the island community did not receive a new airport. They commented that the restrictions caused by the wind forced the airline to terminate up to half the departures. The chairman of the Widerøe's Pilots' Union, Helge Høvik, stated the same day that the airline might have to lower the number of calls at some other regional airports, namely Mosjøen Airport, Kjærstad
Mosjøen Airport, Kjærstad
Mosjøen Airport, Kjærstad is a regional airport serving Mosjøen in Nordland, Norway. In 2007 Mosjøen Airport had 76,294 passengers. It is owned and operated by the state owned Avinor.-Service:...
, Mo i Rana Airport, Røssvold, Sandnessjøen Airport, Stokka
Sandnessjøen Airport, Stokka
Sandnessjøen Airport, Stokka is a regional airport serving Sandnessjøen in Nordland, Norway. In 2009, Sandnessjøen Airport served 88,934 passengers. It is operated by Avinor.-Service:...
and Sandane Airport, Anda
Sandane Airport, Anda
Sandane Airport, Anda is an airport in the Gloppen municipality in Sogn og Fjordane, Norway, opened in 1975. The airport is located north of the municipality centre, at the base of a peninsula between the fjords Nordfjord and Gloppefjord...
. Høvik stated that he felt that many of the airports were located in the wrong places, for instance at the bottom of valleys, on top of hills and between mountains. Widerøe stated that there was not a safety problem at any other regional airports.
The report from the Accident Investigation Board was highly critical to the Norwegian Civil Aviation Administration
Avinor
Avinor AS is a state owned limited company in that operates most of the civil airports in Norway. The Norwegian state, via the Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications controls 100 percent of the share capital. Avinor was created on 1 January 2003, by the privatization of the...
, 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
Norwegian Meteorological Institute
Norwegian Meteorological Institute is the Norwegian national institute for weather forecasts.The three main offices are located in Oslo, Bergen and Tromsø. The Institute has around 500 employees and keeps around 650 paid observers of various kinds around the country...
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.
No plane 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, accompagnied by a Piper 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 Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications
Norwegian Ministry of Transport and Communications
The Royal Norwegian Ministry of Transportation and Communications is a Norwegian ministry established in 1946, and is responsible for transportation and communication infrastructure in Norway. It is led by Magnhild Meltveit Kleppa...
decided to permanently close the airport, after it had been temporarily closed since the accident. In 1995, Værøy Heliport
Værøy Heliport
Værøy Heliport is a heliport on the island of Værøy in Nordland county in Norway. The airport had 8,372 passengers in 2005....
was opened further south on the island, and Helikopter Service was awarded the public service obligation
Public Service Obligation
In transport, public service obligation or PSO is an arrangement in which a governing body or other authority offers an auction for subsidies, permit the winning company a monopoly to operate a specified service of public transport for a specified period of time for the given subsidy...
to operate the route. The helicopter service sometimes uses the closed airport as a reserve airport during bad weather.
Second investigation
In an article published in the newspaper FremoverFremover
Fremover is a regional newspaper published in Narvik, Norway. It has been published for more than 100 years, having been founded on May 27, 1903....
in May 1994, the English aviation engineer Hugh Tyrer stated that the cause of the accident was probably due to fatigue
Fatigue (material)
'In materials science, fatigue is the progressive and localized structural damage that occurs when a material is subjected to cyclic loading. The nominal maximum stress values are less than the ultimate tensile stress limit, and may be below the yield stress limit of the material.Fatigue occurs...
in the end piece of the transfer mechanism to the elevator
Elevator (aircraft)
Elevators are flight control surfaces, usually at the rear of an aircraft, which control the aircraft's orientation by changing the pitch of the aircraft, and so also the angle of attack of the wing. In simplified terms, they make the aircraft nose-up or nose-down...
. The end piece was in such a state that it would have failed sooner or later in ordinary use. Following this discovery in the wreck, Widerøe had grounded all their Twin Otters and checked these pieces, but without finding any other defect parts. de Havilland Canada
De Havilland Canada
The de Havilland Aircraft of Canada Ltd. company was an aircraft manufacturer with facilities based in what is now the Downsview area of Toronto, Ontario, Canada...
had also sent an alert to all operators of the Twin Otter to check the component, and had canceled the contract with the subcontractor. On 800 operating Twin Otters, 86 end pieces were replaced shortly after the accident, although none had fatigue similar to that of LN-BNS. The commission's chair, Ragnar Rygnestad, stated that they had not considered the end piece to be part of the cause of the accident, and that they therefore had not stress-tested it or the elevator to see what forces were needed to cause a crack. Rygnestad stated that the board knew about the fatigue. He also said that he had no problems with the opening of a new inquiry. Widerøe stated that they trusted the report from the Accident Investigation Board.
Member of parliament, Inge Myrvoll
Inge Myrvoll
Inge Myrvoll is a Norwegian politician for the Socialist Left Party and trade unionist from Rana.Myrvoll graduated from secondary school in 1968. He had various jobs in the construction industry until 1972, when he became a student. From 1975 he worked as a slaughter until 1978, when he started...
, and president of the Norwegian Airline Pilots Association
Norwegian Airline Pilots Association
The Norwegian Airline Pilots Association is a trade union of civil airline pilots in Norway.It was established as a merger in 1977. It has about 1300 members, and had its headquarters at Oksenøya near Fornebu...
, Peter Helland, both stated that the Accident Investigation Board should make a new inquiry about the accident. Helland stated that the report's credibility was weakened due to the influence de Havilland Canada had during the process. On 10 June, the commission reopened the case, after having held meetings with Tyrer. The commission stated that there was disagreement as to if the tail rudder and tail plane or the end piece had cracked first, which would be crucial in determining the cause of the accident. Among the inquiries would be to re-investigate the tape of cockpit sound with new technology. The Accident Investigation Board used the National Aerospace Laboratory
National Aerospace Laboratory
The Nationaal Lucht- en Ruimtevaartlaboratorium is the National Aerospace Laboratory of the Netherlands and is one of the Major Technological Institutes of the country. These institutes perform a large part of the applied research in the Netherlands, each within its own specific field of technology...
in the Netherlands to conduct tests on the end pieces. The report from the National Aerospace Laboratory was published on 23 March 1995, and supported the conclusion in the commissions report. The journalist Oddvar Kristoffersen in Fremover won the SKUP Award
SKUP Award
The SKUP Award is a Norwegian journalism award.It is awarded once a year, first in 1990, by The Norwegian Foundation for a Free and Investigative Press .- External links :*...
for 1994 for his work related to uncovering the controversy. The pilots' union in Widerøe was initially critical to the report, but by July it stated that it supported the conclusion. In addition, Det Norske Veritas
Det Norske Veritas
Stiftelsen Det Norske Veritas is a classification society organized as a foundation, with the objective of "Safeguarding life, property, and the environment". The organization's history goes back to 1864, when the foundation was established in Norway to inspect and evaluate the technical condition...
withdrew its critical comments concerning the commission. With this, all officially involved parties supported the report.