Fred. Olsen's Air Transport - Fred. Olsen Flyselskap

Dassault Falcon 20

The Dassault Falcon 20C jet aircraft was on charter to fly passengers from Norwich, U.K. to Gothenburg, Sweden, and during the morning it made an uneventful positioning flight from Oslo, Norway, to Norwich where it landed at 12:28 hrs. The six passengers boarded the aircraft at about 15:20 hrs and the aircraft received clearance from Norwich Tower to taxi out for take-off on runway 28. While taxying the crew received an airways clearance and the aircraft was lined up on the runway without delay. The co-pilot, a qualified commander on this type of aircraft, was in the left hand pilot's seat, and the aircraft commander in the right hand seat. No bird flocks were seen by either of the pilots whilst taxying to the active runway. The aircraft took-off at 15:37 hrs piloted from the left hand seat. On becoming airborne, at a position a little over halfway down the runway, the crew saw a flock of birds ahead flying just above the ground. The pilot increased slightly the aircraft's climb attitude and the flock passed underneath. A few seconds later a second flock was seen at a higher level and directly in the aircraft's flight path. The pilot lowered the aircraft nose and the flock passed overhead. On re-establishing the climb and at a height of between 100 and 200 feet a third flock was seen, again directly ahead. This flock extended from ground level to well above the aircraft and there was no possible way for the pilot to avoid it; almost immediately the crew heard the sound of multiple bird strikes on the aircraft, the commander described the noise as 'like a machine gun'. The pilot maintained the aircraft in the climb attitude and the commander, who was checking the aircraft's instruments, noticed the RPM on both engines running down very fast, he also observed the engine pressure ratio (EPR), and exhaust gas temperature (EGT) instrument readings dropping. The pilot heard a bang from the engines, followed by the sound of the engines running down in a rough and abnormal manner. He quickly asked if both engines had failed. This was confirmed by the commander who tried to move the thrust levers without any response from the engines. By this time the aircraft was at a height of approximately 300 feet with the landing gear still down, the crew not having had time to select it up because of their preoccupation with avoiding the bird flocks. The speed, which had been about 150 knots prior to the bird strikes, had dropped to 135 knots. The control column was eased forward to maintain speed and the aircraft began to lose height. The pilot saw a field ahead and slightly left of the aircraft which he considered the best forced landing area. On receiving confirmation of his decision from the commander, the pilot made a turn to the left and lined up the aircraft for an approach to the selected field. Visibility was not good because of approaching darkness but the crew were able to see some trees at the approach end of the field. These were avoided and a positive touch down made; the stall warning sounded just before the aircraft hit the ground. Battery and fuel switches were turned off either just before or after ground impact and an attempt was made to close the thrust levers, but these would not move. All three landing gear legs were torn off shortly after ground impact and the aircraft finally came to rest on the belly of the fuselage. The commander, although partially blinded by blood from cuts on his head, made his way to the main cabin door, which he opened, and all the occupants were evacuated.

Douglas C-47 Skytrain (DC-3)

The aircraft and its crew were performing a charter flight from Amsterdam-Schiphol to Tønsberg-Jarlsberg, Vestfold, carrying 26 Norwegian tourists flying back home from a cruise between Antarctic and Rotterdam. While flying in marginal weather conditions, the pilot-in-command did not realize his altitude was too low when the aircraft hit tree tops and crashed in flames in a dense pinewood area located near Drangedal, about 35 km southwest of Skien. The aircraft was destroyed by a post crash fire and eight passenger and all three crew members were killed. 18 other occupants were injured.

Douglas C-47 Skytrain (DC-3)

The aircraft was completing a charter flight from Madrid to Norrköping with an intermediate stop in Bordeaux, carrying a crew of six and 22 members of a Swedish football team. While descending to Bordeaux-Mérignac Airport in poor weather conditions, a technical failure occurred on one engine. The captain realized that it was not possible to reach the airport of Bordeaux so he reduced his altitude and attempted an emergency landing on a beach located three km north of Mimizan. The airplane belly landed on the sand beach, slid for dozen yards and came to rest partially submerged. All 28 occupants were evacuated safely while the aircraft was considered as damaged beyond repair.