1961 Holtaheia Vickers Viking crash

Eagle Airways

Industry	Airline
Fate	Renamed British Eagle
Products	Air transport services

Template:EngvarB Template:Infobox aircraft occurrence The 1961 Holtaheia Vickers Viking disaster (Norwegian: Holtaheia-ulykken) occurred on 9 August 1961 near Holta in Strand, Norway. The Eagle Airways (later known as British Eagle) Vickers 610 Viking 3B aircraft named Lord Rodney was operating a charter flight from Heathrow Airport in London to Stavanger Airport at Sola, carrying a school group on an AIR Tours camping trip. While conducting an instrument approach, the plane collided with terrain approximately 54 kilometres (34 mi) northeast of Stavanger. There were no survivors among the 39 individuals aboard.

Crash

Memorial erected at the crash location

The Viking departed from Heathrow Airport at 13:29 local time on a charter flight expected to last around two and a half hours. Between 16:24 and 16:30 local time, the aircraft impacted Holtaheia, a steep mountainside situated about 18 nautical miles (33 km; 21 mi) northeast of the destination airport, at an altitude near 1,600 feet (490 m). The crash site was located roughly 30 feet (9.1 m) below the peak.

The impact destroyed the aircraft and ignited a severe fire fueled by spilled fuel and oil. Search operations involved an RAF Avro Shackleton and vessels from the Royal Norwegian Navy, which scoured the surrounding fjords. The wreckage was discovered fifteen hours post-crash by a helicopter from the Royal Norwegian Air Force, approximately 15 miles (24 km) east of the Instrument Landing System (ILS) approach path.

Fatalities

Among the passengers were a group of 34 boys aged between 13 and 16, accompanied by two teachers from Lanfranc Secondary Modern School for Boys (now known as The Archbishop Lanfranc Academy) located in Croydon, South London. The three crew members also perished in the accident. At that time, this tragedy represented the deadliest aviation accident ever recorded in Norway.

Aircraft

The airplane involved was a twin piston-engine Vickers 610 Viking 3B, bearing the serial number 152 and registered in the United Kingdom under the code G-AHPM. Its maiden flight took place on 2 January 1947, after which it was newly assigned to British European Airways.

Investigation

The official inquiry concluded that the accident resulted from "a departure from the designated flight route for reasons that remain unclear".

Aftermath

Memorial beside the communal burial site at Mitcham Road Cemetery, Croydon

On 17 August 1961, a collective interment was held at Mitcham Road Cemetery in Croydon for 33 of the boys along with one teacher.

Residing in Croydon at the time, Ewan MacColl composed a song titled "The Young Birds" as a tribute to those lost in the tragedy.

Bibliography

• Jones, Rosalind (2011). The Lanfranc Boys: the story of the Holtaheia plane crash in Norway. Avernes-sous-Exmes: Craigmore Publications. ISBN 978-0-9531890-3-8.
• Jones, Rosalind (2011). Flystyrten i Holtaheia historien om flystyrten som kostet 39 mennesker livet den 9. august 1961. Sandnes: Commentum. ISBN 978-82-8233-052-7.
• Jones, Rosalind (2017). The Papa Mike Air Crash Mystery. Craigmore Publications. ISBN 978-0-9531890-5-2.
• Martin, Bernard (1975). Viking, Valetta, Varsity. Tonbridge: Air-Britain. ISBN 0-85130-038-3.
• "The Stavanger Tragedy". Flight. 17 August 1961. p. 240.
• "Stavanger Accident Report". Flight International. 4 October 1962. p. 557.

External links

• "Croydon remembers Lanfranc Boys after 1961 Norway air crash". BBC News. 9 August 2011.
• Lanfranc – Holtaheia, 50th Anniversary, 9 August 2011