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A VIASA Douglas DC-8-53 similar to the one involved in the accident.
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| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 30 May 1961 (1961-05-30) |
| Summary | Loss of control; cause undetermined |
| Site | Off Lisbon |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Douglas DC-8-53 |
| Aircraft name | Fridtjof Nansen |
| Operator | KLM on behalf of Viasa |
| Registration | PH-DCL |
| Flight origin | Fiumicino Airport |
| 1st stopover | Barajas Airport |
| 2nd stopover | Portela Airport |
| 3rd stopover | Santa Maria Airport |
| Last stopover | Portela Airport |
| Destination | Simón Bolívar International Airport |
| Occupants | 61 |
| Passengers | 47 |
| Crew | 14 |
| Fatalities | 61 |
| Survivors | 0 |
Viasa Flight 897 was an international scheduled Rome–Madrid–Lisbon–Santa Maria–Caracas[nb 1] passenger service that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Portugal on 30 May 1961, shortly after takeoff from Portela Airport. There were no survivors among the 61 occupants of the aircraft.[1]
Named Fridtjof Nansen, the aircraft involved in the accident was a Douglas DC-8-53, registration PH-DCL, owned by KLM and operated on Viasa's behalf.[2] With constructor's number 45615/131, the airframe was the newest one of the type in KLM's fleet at the time the accident took place; it had accumulated 209 flight hours.[1][4]
The crash of Viasa Flight 897 occurred on the third leg of a trip that originated in Rome, Italy, and was scheduled to conclude in Caracas, Venezuela. Intermediate stops were to be made in Madrid, Spain, Lisbon, and on Santa Maria Island.
At the time the airliner lifted off from Lisbon at 01:15 UTC, the nighttime sky had a cloud base of 3,700 feet (1,100 m). A few minutes after take off the DC-8 entered a spiral dive to the left shortly after sending two short messages to Air Traffic Control. The pilot over-corrected to the right and the aircraft struck the sea with a pitch angle of approximately 25° nose down.
The cause for the crash of Viasa Flight 897 was never determined by either Portuguese or Dutch authorities. The official report out of Portugal concluded "Notwithstanding a very thorough, time-consuming investigation, in which many authorities and experts co-operated, it was not possible to establish a probable cause of the accident."
The Netherlands, as state of registry for the aircraft, commented: "Though there are no direct indications in this respect, the Board regards it as possible that the accident was due to the pilot or pilots being misled by instrument failure, in particular of the artificial horizon, or to the pilot having been distracted, so that a serious deviation from the normal flight path was not discovered in time."
At the time it occurred, Flight 897 was the third fatal crash of a big jetliner since they were introduced into service in 1958.[2] It was the worst civilian aviation incident ever to take place in Portugal until the crash of TAP Air Portugal Flight 425 in 1977.[1]
These incidents come on top of the complete loss, with all 61 on board, of KLM's newest Douglas DC-8 off Lisbon, when under charter to Viasa (Venezuela).
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Aviation accidents and incidents in Portugal
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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 | |
