Hummelfjell Accident

The Hummelfjell Accident occurred on 7 November 1956 at 9:50, when a de Havilland Heron crashed into the mountain Hummelfjell in Tolga, Norway. The Braathens SAFE aircraft was on route from Trondheim Airport, Værnes to Oslo Airport, Fornebu. The accident was caused by the aircraft losing altitude after heavy icing, combined with a downdraft. Of the two crew and ten passengers, two were killed. On board the aircraft was Rolf Kirkvaag, who along with one other passenger walked for help the following day. The accident was Braathens SAFE's first fatal accident.

Accident

The de Havilland DH-114 Heron 2B, with registration LN-SUR and named Lars, was on route from Trondheim Airport, Værnes to Oslo Airport, Fornebu on 7 November 1956. The aircraft had been delivered to Braathens SAFE on 4 February the same year. The scheduled service left Værnes at 08:30, and climbed to 2,400 metres (7,900 ft), the cruising altitude. At 09:12, the aircraft passed Tolga Radio Beacon. The aircraft then experienced rapidly increasing light icing. The de-icing system was fully activated, but altitude was lost. The plane turned to return to Værnes. It hit the mountain Hommelfjell in Tolga at 09:50 at a height of 1,350 metres (4,430 ft), then bounced in the snow before settling.^[1]

At the impact, Captain Olav Cabrielsen was killed, while co-pilot Remo Ravndal survived. The accident occurred in an isolated area, with bad weather and inaccessibility for search and rescue troops.^[2] There were ten passengers,^[1] of which one died after the accident of heart problems directly related to the stress of the incident.^[2] Among the passengers was the television actor Rolf Kirkvaag. The passengers stayed at the aircraft for a day, waiting to be rescued. Due to the harsh blizzard, the rescue troops were not able to locate the wreck. On 8 November, while the blizzard was still active, Kirkvaag, who had two broken bones in his leg, and one other passenger walked from the plane towards civilization. They met two skiers, who were able to communicate with the authorities so the location of the wreck could be pinpointed.^[3]

The accident was Braathens SAFE's first fatal accident.^[2] The investigation concluded that the accident was probably caused by unusual heavy icing combined with downdraft immediately prior to the crash. Parts from the plane were afterwards used to rebuild another Heron, LN-NPI, after it was damaged on 26 January 1957.^[1]

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