What happened
Before departing from Bardufoss for a scheduled flight to Stokmarknes, the flight crew received warnings regarding adverse weather conditions along the intended route. Following these reports, the captain was specifically directed to divert the flight directly to Bodø instead of proceeding to the original destination. However, after the aircraft had taken off, the pilot chose to proceed toward Stokmarknes.
While maintaining cruising altitude, the aircraft entered an area characterized by heavy rain, fog, and low cloud cover. During this period, the plane collided with the slope of Mt Lille Tussen, an 800-meter peak situated on Grytøya Island, approximately 75 km northeast of Stokmarknes-Skagen Airport. The impact occurred near the summit, with debris located roughly 20 meters below the peak. There were 17 fatalities among the occupants of the aircraft.
Findings
Investigations concluded that the accident was a result of controlled flight into terrain under degraded visibility conditions. A primary contributing factor was the captain's decision to deviate from the instruction to fly to Bodø and instead attempt the flight to Stokmarknes. Furthermore, evidence indicated that the captain had not obtained adequate rest following a social event the previous night. Additionally, testing revealed an estimated blood alcohol concentration in the pilot of between 1 and 1.5‰.