Widerøe Flight 744 suffered a controlled flight into terrain while on approach to Namsos Airport, Norway, killing two crew members and four passengers.
Widerøe Flight 744
Widerøe Flight 744, also known as the Namsos Accident, was a scheduled flight of Widerøes Flyveselskap from Trondheim Airport, Værnes, via Namsos, to Rørvik Airport, Ryumsjøen, Norway. On 27 October 1993, the de Havilland Canada DHC-6-300 Twin Otter serving the flight underwent a controlled flight into terrain during its approach to Namsos Airport, Høknesøra. The incident occurred at 19:16:48 and killed six of the nineteen people on board, including the crew of two. The aircraft crashed at Berg in Overhalla Municipality because it held too low an altitude.
Controlled flight into terrain
In aviation, a controlled flight into terrain is an accident in which an airworthy aircraft, fully under pilot control, is unintentionally flown into the ground, a body of water or other obstacle. In a typical CFIT scenario, the crew is unaware of the impending collision until impact, or it is too late to avert. The term was coined by engineers at Boeing in the late 1970s.
Namsos Airport
Namsos Airport is a regional airport located at Høknesøra along the Namsen river, just outside the town of Namsos in Namsos Municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The airport is served with Dash 8 aircraft from Widerøe on public service obligation contracts with the Ministry of Transport and Communications. It had 25,684 passengers in 2011 and is owned and operated by Avinor. There has been one large disaster associated with the airport. In 1993, Widerøe Flight 744 hit ground in darkness during approach, causing six deaths out of 19 on board.