1978 Finnish Air Force DC-3 crash

1978 Finnish Air Force DC-3 crash
DO-4, sister ship to the accident aircraft on display in the Aviation Museum of Central Finland
Accident
Date 3 October 1978
Summary Engine failure, pilot error, stall
Site Rissala, Siilinjärvi, Finland
Aircraft type Douglas DC-3
Operator Finnish Air Force
Registration DO-10
Flight origin Utti Airport
Stopover Kuopio Airport
Destination Helsinki Airport
Passengers 12
Crew 3
Fatalities 15
Survivors 0

The Finnish Air Force DC-3 disaster occurred when a plane of this class crashed into Lake Juurusvesi in Rissala on 3 October 1978, killing all fifteen people on board. It was caused by a cracked exhaust valve, resulting from metal fatigue in an engine cylinder.

Incident

The crash, also known as the Rissala air disaster, killed all fifteen people on board, including politicians and prominent businessmen attending a National Defence Course organized by the Finnish Defence Forces.

After the airplane departed Kuopio Airport at 21:31 local time, one of its engines lost power. The pilot attempted to return to the airport, but during the turn the aircraft lost altitude and impacted Lake Juurusvesi.

Investigation

The primary cause of the accident was found to be mechanical failure resulting from a fatigue breakdown in one of the cylinders of the No.2 engine, which resulted in cracking of an exhaust valve. The airplane had been maintained and was checked the previous day, but the crack would only have been visible by partially disassembling the engine.[1]

The investigation board determined that the attention of the crew was concentrated on the engine failure instead of flying with one engine, possibly due to carrying out engine fire drills.[2]

Aftermath

The accident hastened replacing the aging DC-3 fleet of the Finnish Air Force with Fokker F.27s. Air force and Finnair pilots were given more training for emergency situations and flying in challenging wind conditions.

Victims

Source: YLE[3]

Tarja Halonen, the future President of Finland, then MP (SDP) would have been a passenger on the flight had her doctor not advised her not to fly, due to her late-stage pregnancy.[2]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Sinisalo, Tomi (10 October 2013). "DC-3 syöksyi syvyyksiin". Ruotuväki (in Finnish). Finnish Defence Forces. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  2. 1 2 Muisti: Uutinen Rissalasta — Rissalan lento-onnettomuus 1978. YLE TV1, 1 December 2013.
  3. ↑ Lindfors, Jukka (8 September 2006). "Rissalan Juurusveden lento-onnettomuus". Elävä arkisto (in Finnish). YLE. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.