Washington D.C. – Sondreströmfjord – Reykjavik – Liverpool

On March 17, 1978 at 10:15 PM, Washington D.C. – Sondreströmfjord – Reykjavik – Liverpool experienced a crash involving Beechcraft 65 Queen Air, operated by Vernair Transport, with the event recorded near Angmagssalik (Tasiilaq) Kommuneqarfik Sermersooq.

The flight was categorized as ferry and the reported phase was flight at a mountains crash site.

2 people were known to be on board, 2 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 2, crew fatalities: 2, passengers on board: 0, passenger fatalities: 0, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. The crew was completing a ferry flight from Washington DC to Liverpool, UK, with intermediate stops in Sondreströmfjord and Reykjavik. On the leg between Greenland and Iceland, the crew encountered icing conditions and declared an emergency after the right engine failed. He was vectored to Kulusuk Airport which is a VFR Airfield located on the southeast coast of Greenland, near the city of Angmagssalik (Tasiilaq) and open to traffic by day only. An hour later, the crew started the descent but due to a limited visibility caused by night and clouds, he was unable to locate the runway and initiated a go-around. About 45 minutes later, while descending to an altitude of 1,700 feet, the airplane struck the slope of a mountain located near Angmagssalik. The airplane was destroyed upon impact and both pilots were killed.

Aircraft reference details include registration N8431N, MSN LC-307, year of manufacture 1969.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 65.6091°, -37.6327°.