What happened
A scheduled international flight from Stockholm-Arlanda to Palma de Mallorca was aborted following an engine malfunction on the fourth engine of the aircraft type. After discovering compressor damage, the decision was made to perform a ferry flight to Zurich using only three engines. During the takeoff roll on Runway 19, the crew encountered slippery patches of ice on the runway surface, causing the nose wheel to skid.
Upon lift-off, the pilot's vision was obscured by low-lying clouds illuminated by the aircraft's landing lights. As the crew transitioned from visual to instrument flight, the aircraft experienced a significant loss of airspeed and a developing right bank. The aircraft struck treetops approximately 1,060 meters beyond the runway end, resulting in five fatalities and five injuries. The aircraft type was destroyed in the impact.
Findings
The accident was driven by several contributing environmental and operational factors:
- The pilot experienced an unexpected loss of visual references due to low clouds being illuminated by landing lights.
- The aircraft encountered a combination of windshear and a temperature inversion, which reduced thrust and airspeed.
- A tailwind component was present due to wind conditions at low altitudes.
- During the critical climb phase, the co-pilot was distracted by a request from Air Traffic Control to change radio frequencies.
- Windshear and a temperature inversion caused an uncontrollable attitude and increased drag.