1986 Ljósufjöll air crash

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1986 Ljósufjöll air crash
Piper PA-23-250 Aztec AN0864458.jpg
A Piper PA-23-250 Aztec, similar to the one that crashed.
Accident
Date5 April 1986
SummaryAir crash
SiteLjósufjöll, Iceland
Aircraft typePiper PA-23-250 Aztec
RegistrationTF-ORM
Flight originÍsafjörður Airport, Iceland
DestinationReykjavík Airport, Iceland
Passengers6
Crew1
Fatalities5
Injuries2

The 1986 Ljósufjöll air crash was a plane crash that happened on 5 April 1986 at 13:26 when a Piper PA-23-250 Aztec plane from Flugfélagið Ernir, TF-ORM, crashed in Ljósufjöll in Snæfellsnes, Iceland.[1][2][3] The aircraft was on a charter flight from Ísafjörður to Reykjavík and carried six passengers, including a couple with an 11-month-old child, and a pilot. It was believed that the plane landed in a downdraft and crashed into the slopes of Ljósufjöll, south of Sóleyjardalur.[4] It remains one of the deadliest aviation accidents in Iceland's history[5][6] and resulted in changes to aviation regulations and procedures to increase the flow of up-to-date weather information to pilots.[7]

The wreckage of the plane was found on the northern slopes of Ljósufjöll, at an altitude of 700 meters, just before midnight the same day. Men from the Air Rescue Squad in Reykjavík were the first to arrive at the scene of the accident and there were three passengers alive in the wreckage, but one passenger died in a snowmobile on the way down the mountain.[8][9]

Aftermath[]

Three days after the crash, a survivor who lost his wife and child in the crash, told his story in an interview with Morgunblaðið.[10] The interview caused a considerable backlash towards the newspaper and doctors at Borgarspítalinn.[11][12]

An investigation by the Air Accident Committee and the Civil Aviation Administration concluded that the plane likely landed in a downdraft resulting in it crashing into the slopes of Ljósufjöll. It also concluded that a large part of the cause was due to the pilots lack of access to current weather information in the area.[13] It resulted in changes on aviation regulations and procedures to increase the flow of up-to-date weather information between pilots and the Icelandic Meteorological Office. It also led to an overhaul of how air operators' logbooks, brochures and other educational material published by the Civil Aviation Administration are used in pilot training and retraining, e.g. in pilots aptitude test.[7]

The aftermath of the accident also caused a controversy in Iceland due to the goverments regulations regarding passenger compensations for plane accidents which was 47-times lower than passengers in an automobile accident could receive.[14]

In popular culture[]

In 2020, RÚV featured the accident in a three-part radio series.[15]

In 2011, the accident was featured in the book Útkall - Ofviðri í Ljósufjöllum, part of the Útkall book series by Óttar Sveinsson.[16]

References[]

  1. ^ "Tveir lifðu af - fimm fórust í flugslysinu". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 7 April 1986. pp. 1, 4, 5, 48. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  2. ^ "Tveir komust lífs af". Tíminn (in Icelandic). 8 April 1986. p. 1. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  3. ^ Huldar Breiðfjörð (1 December 2011). "Flugslysið í Ljósufjöllum". Bæjarins Besta (in Icelandic). p. 14. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  4. ^ Halla Ólafsdóttir (8 April 2020). "Ljósufjöll". RÚV (in Icelandic). Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  5. ^ "Sjöunda mesta slys íslenskrar flugsögu". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 8 April 1986. p. 2. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  6. ^ Arnar Þór Ingólfsson (12 June 2019). "Fyrsta banaslysið í flugi frá 2015". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  7. ^ a b "1,5 millj. til að auka upplýsingar milli Veðurstofu og flugmanna". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 17 February 1987. p. 4. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  8. ^ "Flugvélin nötraði og kastaðist til í loftinu". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 8 April 1986. pp. 1, 22, 23, 52–56. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  9. ^ Guðni Einarsson (7 March 1993). "Af hverju ég?". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). pp. 18–19. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  10. ^ "Þrýsti barninu að mér og reyndi að verja konuna". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 9 April 1986. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  11. ^ "Trúin og bænin hafa veitt mér hugarró og hjálp". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 24 April 1986. pp. 40–41. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  12. ^ Þorbjörg Magnúsdóttir. "Blaðamenn eiga ekki erindi við slasaða". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). p. 4. Retrieved 19 June 2021.
  13. ^ Jón Birgir Pétursson (19 February 1987). "Veðurstofan ein hafði réttu upplýsingarnar um hvernig veðrið í rauninni var". Vestfirska Fréttablaðið (in Icelandic). p. 7. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  14. ^ "Löggjafinn viðheldur smánarbótum". Helgarpósturinn (in Icelandic). 17 June 1987. pp. 1, 7–9. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  15. ^ Halla Ólafsdóttir. "Ljósufjöll". RÚV. Archived from the original on 27 June 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  16. ^ Helgi Bjarnason (16 December 2011). "Ómannlegar raunir í Ljósufjöllum". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). Retrieved 11 February 2022.

External links[]

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