Linjeflyg Flight 618

Linjeflyg Flight 618

A view of the wreckage, in which the inverted tailplane is clearly visible as the only recognisable part
Accident summary
Date	15 January 1977
Type	mechanical failure; pilot error
Site	Kälvesta, Sweden
Passengers	19
Crew	3
Injuries	0
Fatalities	22 (all)
Survivors	0
Aircraft type	Vickers 838 Viscount
Operator	Skyline Sweden for Linjeflyg
Tail number	SE-FOZ
Flight origin	Kristianstad Airport
1st stopover	Växjö-Smaland Airport
2nd stopover	Jönköping Airport
Destination	Stockholm-Bromma Airport

Linjeflyg Flight 618 was a scheduled Linjeflyg passenger flight, operated by Skyline Sweden, that crashed into a residential area on 15 January 1977, killing all 22 people on board. The plane had left Malmö earlier that morning.

Final moments

The airplane, a Vickers 838 Viscount, was at an altitude of 1,150 feet and was descending to land at the Stockholm-Bromma Airport (BMA/ESSB), serving Stockholm. Suddenly, the aircraft experienced a loss of pitch control. The aircraft went into a steep dive and crashed into the residential area of Kälvesta, five km short of the runway. The aircraft impacted a car park, and no one on the ground was killed. All 19 passengers and 3 crew members on board the airplane were killed. One of them was the well-known table tennis player Hans Alsér.

Investigation

A full investigation into the cause of the accident was conducted by the Government of Sweden. The investigation came to the following conclusions:

The aircraft had been cruising for a long period with the number two and number three engines at a low power setting. This meant that the anti-icing systems run from the engines were not at a temperature sufficient for them to operate correctly. As a result, ice built up on the stabilizer, which disrupted the airflow, causing the loss of pitch control when the flaps were being fully extended on final approach.

References

• Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network, including pictures of the wreckage

External links

• Aerial view of the crash scene