Holtaheia Accident
Encyclopedia
The Holtaheia Accident was a controlled flight into terrain
accident on 9 August 1961 at Holta
in Strand
, Norway
. The British Eagle
Vickers 610 Viking 3B
Lord Rodney was en-route from London
, United Kingdom to Stavanger Airport, Sola
on an AIR Tours charter flight taking a school group for a camping holiday. The aircraft was making an instrument landing when it crashed 54 km (33.6 mi) northeast of Stavanger
. The accident killed all 39 people on board.
The 36 passengers were a school class of boys aged 13 to 16 and two masters from Lanfranc Secondary Modern School for Boys
. It was at the time the deadliest aviation accident in Norway.
The aircraft was destroyed and an intense fuel and oil fire followed the impact. The search for the aircraft included an RAF Shackleton
and Norwegian Navy ships investigating the fjords in the area. The wreckage was found fifteen hours after the crash by a Norwegian Air Force helicopter, 15 miles east from the ILS track.
serial number 152 and registered in the United Kingdom
as G-AHPM. It first flew on 2 January 1947 and was delivered new to British European Airways
.
Controlled flight into terrain
Controlled flight into terrain describes an accident in which an airworthy aircraft, under pilot control, is unintentionally flown into the ground, a mountain, water, or an obstacle. The term was coined by engineers at Boeing in the late 1970s...
accident on 9 August 1961 at Holta
Holta
Holta is a farm in Strand municipality in Rogaland, Norway. The farm is situated on the northern hills overlooking Bjørheimsvatn Lake. It is approximately 10 kilometres from Stavanger, with a 14-kilometre journey by sea....
in Strand
Strand, Norway
Strand is a municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. It is part of the region of Ryfylke. Strand was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 . Høle was separated from Strand in 1842....
, 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 British Eagle
British Eagle
British Eagle International Airlines was a major British independentindependent from government-owned corporations airline that operated from 1948 to 1968....
Vickers 610 Viking 3B
Vickers VC.1 Viking
The Vickers VC.1 Viking was a British twin-engine short-range airliner derived from the Vickers Wellington bomber and built by Vickers Armstrongs Limited at Brooklands near Weybridge in Surrey. In the aftermath of the Second World War, the Viking was an important airliner with British airlines...
Lord Rodney was en-route from London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, United Kingdom to Stavanger Airport, Sola
Stavanger Airport, Sola
Stavanger Airport, Sola is an international airport located in Sola, Norway, southwest of Stavanger. It is Norway's third-busiest airport, with both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopter traffic for the offshore North Sea oil installations...
on an AIR Tours charter flight taking a school group for a camping holiday. The aircraft was making an instrument landing when it crashed 54 km (33.6 mi) northeast of Stavanger
Stavanger
Stavanger is a city and municipality in the county of Rogaland, Norway.Stavanger municipality has a population of 126,469. There are 197,852 people living in the Stavanger conurbation, making Stavanger the fourth largest city, but the third largest urban area, in Norway...
. The accident killed all 39 people on board.
The 36 passengers were a school class of boys aged 13 to 16 and two masters from Lanfranc Secondary Modern School for Boys
The Archbishop Lanfranc School
The Archbishop Lanfranc School is a comprehensive secondary school in the Thornton Heath area of Croydon, south London, named after Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury from 1070 to 1089.-History:...
. It was at the time the deadliest aviation accident in Norway.
Accident
The Viking left London at 13:29 on what was an estimated two and a half hour charter flight. Between 16:24 and 16:30 it crashed 18 nautical miles north-east of the airport on to Holteheia, a steep mountainside at an elevation of 1600 feet. The crash site was 30 feet below the summit.The aircraft was destroyed and an intense fuel and oil fire followed the impact. The search for the aircraft included an RAF Shackleton
Avro Shackleton
The Avro Shackleton was a British long-range maritime patrol aircraft for use by the Royal Air Force. It was developed by Avro from the Avro Lincoln bomber with a new fuselage...
and Norwegian Navy ships investigating the fjords in the area. The wreckage was found fifteen hours after the crash by a Norwegian Air Force helicopter, 15 miles east from the ILS track.
Aircraft
The aircraft was a twin piston-engined Vickers 610 Viking 3BVickers VC.1 Viking
The Vickers VC.1 Viking was a British twin-engine short-range airliner derived from the Vickers Wellington bomber and built by Vickers Armstrongs Limited at Brooklands near Weybridge in Surrey. In the aftermath of the Second World War, the Viking was an important airliner with British airlines...
serial number 152 and registered in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom aircraft registration
United Kingdom aircraft registration is a register and means of identifcation for British owned and operated commercial and private aircraft, they are identified by registration letters starting with the prefix G-.-Registration:...
as G-AHPM. It first flew on 2 January 1947 and was delivered new to British European Airways
British European Airways
British European Airways or British European Airways Corporation was a British airline which existed from 1946 until 1974. The airline operated European and North African routes from airports around the United Kingdom...
.