Accident
Widerøe Flight 710, a scheduled passenger flight operated by Widerøe, crashed into the mountain of Torghatten in Brønnøy Municipality, Norway, on 6 May 1988. The aircraft, a de Havilland Canada Dash 7 registered as LN-WFN, was on approach to Brønnøysund Airport, Brønnøy, when it struck the terrain at 20:29:30 local time. All thirty-six occupants on board were killed. The accident is the deadliest involving the Dash 7 and the deadliest aviation accident in Northern Norway.
Cause
The direct cause of the accident was that the aircraft had descended from 500 to 170 meters at a distance of 8 nautical miles from the airport, instead of the correct position at 4 nautical miles. This premature descent led to controlled flight into terrain (CFIT), where an airworthy aircraft is inadvertently flown into the ground or an obstacle.
Aftermath
The crash site was located on the Torghatten mountain, and rescue and recovery operations followed. The accident remains a notable event in Norwegian aviation history, prompting reviews of approach procedures and safety measures.