Probe starts into fatal 146 overrun

Data recorders despatched to UK as investigation begins into cause of Atlantic Airways accident at Stord airport

Norwegian investigators are trying to establish why a BAe 146 operated by Atlantic Airways ran off the end of the runway on landing at Stord airport last week, resulting in the deaths of four people on board.

The 19-year-old BAe 146-200 (OY-CRG) was attempting to land on Stord's single 1,460m (4,790ft)- long runway (15/33) at 07:35 on 10 October after a domestic flight (RC670) from Stavanger with 12 passengers and four crew on board. Stord's runway has a displaced threshold that reduces the landing distance available in each direction to 1,200m.

The aircraft overran the runway, coming to rest part of the way down the precipitous coastal terrain at the runway's end. The BAe 146 burned fiercely, killing three passengers and a crew member.

Circumstances surrounding the accident have yet to become clear, with the Accident Investigation Board Norway saying last week that there was no firm indication of the reasons for the overrun.

The airport does not have precision approach equipment, but does have a Doppler VOR navigation aid and the runway is equipped with 3° precision approach path indicators. The aircraft is believed to have made a northerly arrival to runway 33.

Meteorological data from Stord airport, which is on the west Norwegian coast, indicate good visibility and weather conditions at the time. The cockpit-voice and flight-data recorders have been dispatched to the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch for analysis.

Atlantic Airways is based in the Faroe Islands, an autonomous region of Denmark located between the UK and Iceland. The carrier operates a small fleet of BAe 146s and BAE Systems Avro RJs.

Stord airport was the scene of another fatal accident in October 1998 when a Jetair Flight Academy Cessna 402A turboprop, arriving from Aalborg, struck the rocky surrounding terrain during a night-time approach to runway 33. The crash killed all nine on board.