A similar Vickers Viking operated by Eagle Airways in 1960
| |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 9 August 1961 |
| Summary | Controlled flight into terrain |
| Site | Holta, Strand, Norway 59°05′07″N 6°03′41″E / 59.08528°N 6.06139°E / 59.08528; 6.06139 |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Vickers 610 Viking 3B |
| Operator | Eagle Airways |
| Registration | G-AHPM |
| Flight origin | London Heathrow, England |
| Destination | Stavanger Airport, Sola |
| Passengers | 36 |
| Crew | 3 |
| Fatalities | 39 |
| Survivors | 0 |
The 1961 Holtaheia Vickers Viking crash (Norwegian: Holtaheia-ulykken) was a controlled flight into terrain incident on 9 August 1961 at HoltainStrand, Norway. The Eagle Airways (later, British Eagle) Vickers 610 Viking 3B Lord Rodney was en route from London HeathrowtoStavanger 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 (34 mi) north east of Stavanger. All 39 people on board died.
The Viking left London Heathrow at 13:29 on what was an estimated two and a half-hour charter flight.[1] Between 16:24 and 16:30 it crashed 18 nautical miles (33 km; 21 mi) north-east of the airport on to Holteheia, a steep mountainside at an elevation of 1,600 feet (490 m).[1] The crash site was 30 feet (9 m) below the summit.[2]
The aircraft was destroyed and an intense fuel and oil fire followed the impact.[1] The search for the aircraft included an RAF Shackleton and Royal Norwegian Navy ships investigating the fjords in the area.[3] The wreckage was found fifteen hours after the crash by a Royal Norwegian Air Force helicopter, 15 miles (24 km) east from the ILS track.
The 36 passengers were a school class of boys aged 13 to 16 and two teachers from Lanfranc Secondary Modern School for Boys. It was at the time the deadliest aviation incident in Norway.[4][5]
The aircraft was a twin piston-engined Vickers 610 Viking 3B serial number 152 and registered in the United Kingdom as G-AHPM.[6] It first flew on 2 January 1947 and was delivered new to British European Airways.[6]
The report into the crash put the cause down to "a deviation from the prescribed flight path for reasons unknown".[7]
33 of the boys and one teacher were buried together at a communal grave at Mitcham Road CemeteryinCroydon on 17 August 1961.[8]
Ewan MacColl wrote a song, "The Young Birds", about the accident.[9]
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
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Aviation accidents and incidents in 1961 (1961)
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|---|---|
Jan 3 Jan 16 1961 RAF Lakenheath Super Sabre fire Jan 24 Jan 28 Feb 3 Feb 15 Mar 14 Mar 16 Mar 28 Apr 3 May 10 May 30 Jun 12 Jul 11 Jul 12 Jul 19 Aerolíneas Argentinas Flight 644 Jul 21 Jul 30 Aug 6 Aug 9 Holtaheia Vickers Viking crash Sep 1 Sep 10 Sep 12 Sep 14 Sep 17 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 706 Sep 18 Sep 23 Oct 7 Nov 8 Imperial Airlines Flight 201/8 Nov 14 Nov 23 Aerolíneas Argentinas Flight 322 Nov 30 Dec 17 | |
