August 31st 2024.
The mountains of northern Norway were basked in the fading glow of the bright Nordic summer when a devastating event struck. It was August 31st, 2019, and the picturesque landscape of Alta, Finnmark county was about to be marred by one of the country's worst helicopter accidents. A tragic end to a helicopter tour claimed the lives of all on board – five passengers and their pilot. The Airbus AS350 chopper had suddenly plunged from the sky, its rotors locking up and causing it to crash into the mountainside. The entire body of the helicopter burst into flames, leaving a grim scene in its wake. But how could a helicopter that had undergone a safety check just hours before meet such a fiery end?
The crashed chopper belonged to the annual Høstsprell festival, and the tragedy cast a shadow over the event. The festival attendees were on a sightseeing tour over the stunning Alta landscape when disaster struck. The helicopter had passed a safety inspection at lunchtime and had already taken one group of tourists on a flight. Another group was scheduled to take off shortly before 5pm. The weather conditions were reported to be clear as the tourists captured the beauty of the Skoddevarre mountains with Snapchat videos. Suddenly, the chopper disappeared from flight radars, and its last known coordinates were recorded at 5:08pm on the Flightradar24 website. A bystander noticed plumes of smoke and alerted the airfield loadmaster, who then contacted the emergency services. The helicopter's emergency position radiobeacon had also gone off, prompting a search and rescue mission.
The rescue team miraculously found a survivor about 164 feet from the wreckage. He was conscious and able to speak but could not recall how the crash had happened. Sadly, he passed away overnight at the hospital. Four other victims were declared dead at the scene, and one was found hours later. The mountainside had become a deadly inferno, with the entire helicopter frame destroyed, electronic devices melted, and the surrounding ground ablaze.
The devastating crash sparked an investigation, with a team from the manufacturer Airbus joining the efforts. However, the severe damage to the flight recorder made it difficult to gather evidence. While analyzing a Snapchat video taken half a minute before the crash, investigators found no clues about the cause. Finally, in 2022, the aviation safety authorities released their report, citing servo transparency as the most likely cause. This phenomenon occurs when the hydraulic servomotor cannot handle the stress on the rotor, causing the flight controls to stiffen and become difficult to maneuver. According to the Norwegian Safety Investigation Authority, factors such as high speeds, mass, and altitude can contribute to this fatal phenomenon, which has been linked to 11 previous accidents.
Norway, being one of the world's top oil producers, has unfortunately witnessed its share of helicopter tragedies. In 2016, commercial flights using Airbus Super Puma aircraft were grounded after a crash that claimed the lives of 13 people, including one Briton. Another incident this year resulted in one death and five injuries when a Sikorsky S-92 helicopter crashed into the North Sea near Bergen. The crash site indicated that the pilot had almost regained control, but he ran out of height and crashed into the mountainside. The authorities noted that the relatively low impact suggested that the victims would have had a good chance of survival if the helicopter had not caught on fire. In response to the crash, Airbus made crash-resistant fuel systems a standard feature in all new AS350 helicopters and strongly recommended operators to retrofit older models. However, the crashed chopper had not undergone this retrofit, as it would have cost €35,000, according to local reports.
The tragedy deeply affected the local community, with all the passengers being young adults aged between 19 and 22 from the Alta area. In the aftermath, political parties in the region put their campaigns on hold to mourn the victims until their funerals were held. The music festival also canceled all events, but festivalgoers were allowed to gather at the site to remember the victims. The crash may have left a dark cloud over the beautiful Norwegian landscape, but the memories of the victims will continue to live on in the hearts of their loved ones.
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