Havørn Accident

Havørn Accident

A similar Junkers Ju 52 operated by Norwegian Air Lines in 1939
Accident summary
Date	16 June 1936
Summary	Controlled flight into terrain
Site	Lihesten, Hyllestad, Norway 61°09′25″N 5°09′50″E / 61.1569°N 5.1639°E / 61.1569; 5.1639Coordinates: 61°09′25″N 5°09′50″E / 61.1569°N 5.1639°E / 61.1569; 5.1639
Passengers	3
Crew	4
Fatalities	7
Survivors	0
Aircraft type	Junkers Ju 52
Operator	Norwegian Air Lines
Registration	LN-DAE
Flight origin	Bergen
Destination	Tromsø

The Havørn Accident (Norwegian: Havørn-ulykken) was a controlled flight into terrain of a Junkers Ju 52 aircraft into the mountain Lihesten in Hyllestad, Norway on 16 June 1936 at 07:00. The aircraft, operated by Norwegian Air Lines, was en route from Bergen to Tromsø. The pilots were unaware that they were flying a parallel to the planned course, 15 to 20 kilometers (9.3 to 12.4 mi) further east. The crew of four and three passengers were all killed in what was the first fatal aviation accident in Norway. The aircraft landed on a shelf on the mountain face. A first expedition found four bodies, but attempts to reach the shelf with the main part of the aircraft and three more bodies failed. A second party was sent out two days later, coordinated by Bernt Balchen and led by Boye Schlytter and Henning Tønsberg, saw the successful salvage of the remaining bodies.

The air service between Bergen and Tromsø was started by Norwegian Air Lines on 7 June 1936. It was operated with Havørn, a Junkers Ju 52, registration LN-DAE, which had been bought from Deutsche Lufthansa. On 16 June 1936 at 06:30 Central European Time, the flight departed from the water aerodrome in Sandviken, Bergen. On board was a crew of four and three passengers, and a load of 13 bags of 50 kilograms (110 lb) of post.

The aircraft's captain was Ditlev Pentz Smith. Aged 27, he had started flying for the Norwegian Army Air Service in 1930, and later become a civilian pilot for Widerøe. He was considered one of the country's most renowned pilots and was active with competition flights. He was assisted by First Officer Erik Storm, aged 32, who had a background from the Royal Norwegian Navy Air Service. The reserve pilot was Peter Ruth Paasche, aged 21, and the radio operator was Per Erling Hegle, aged 28 and a trained mechanic. All four had been chosen to regularly fly the Bergen–Tromsø route. The three passengers were Inspector Sven Svensen Løgit, Consul Wilhelm Andreas Mejdell Dall and journalist Harald Wigum of Bergens Tidende.