Tromsø – Bjørnøya – Isfjord – Longyearbyen – Ny-Ålesund – Hopen – Tromsø

On March 28, 1954 at 03:00 PM, Tromsø – Bjørnøya – Isfjord – Longyearbyen – Ny-Ålesund – Hopen – Tromsø experienced a crash involving Consolidated PBY-5A Catalina, operated by Royal Norwegian Air Force - Kongelige Norske Luftforsvaret, with the event recorded near Bjørnøya Island Svalbard.

The flight was categorized as military and the reported phase was flight at a plain, valley crash site.

9 people were known to be on board, 8 fatalities were recorded, 1 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 88.9%.

Crew on board: 8, crew fatalities: 7, passengers on board: 1, passenger fatalities: 1, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. The airplane was carrying one passenger and eight crew members of the 333rd Squadron on a mail dropping mission out from Tromsø. After an uneventful dropping mission at Bjørnøya Island, Isfjord Radio, Longyearbyen, Ny-Ålesund and Hopen, in the Svalbard region, the crew was returning to Tromsø when he decided to make a last low pass over the Bjørnøya station. While flying at a height of 40 meters in snow falls, the pilot-in-command completed a turn to the right when the right wing struck the ground. Out of control, the airplane crashed and disintegrated in one meter of snow. A radio operator was rescued while eight other occupants were killed.

Aircraft reference details include registration KK-N, MSN 28129, year of manufacture 1943.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 74.4262°, 19.0319°.