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5 fatalities

Aircraft Crash in the Sea Near Værøy Airport (LN-BNS)

Værøy (Lofoten Islands), NorwayTakeoff (climb)

On April 12, 1990, a De Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter (registration LN-BNS) operated by Wideroe - Wideroe's Flyveselskap was involved in an aviation accident near Værøy (Lofoten Islands), Norway during takeoff. 5 people were killed. Investigators recorded the probable cause as: The cause of the accident was that the plane during departure came into the wind that exceeded the aircraft's design criteria. Thus there was a break in the horizontal stabilizer / elevator which meant that the plane could no longer be controlled. This summary draws on records from the Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives (B3A); 8 related events involving the same aircraft type or operator are linked below.

Sourcesthe Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives (B3A)Primary reportUpdated 2026-06-11Data APIEditorial standards
Aircraft registered LN-BNS
Aircraft registered LN-BNS. Photo: Steve Barnes / CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

An aircraft crashed into the sea near Værøy Airport after takeoff in marginal weather. Excessive wind caused a horizontal stabilizer failure, resulting in an uncontrolled descent and the deaths of all five occupants.

Accident Overview and Immediate Sequence of Events Less than two minutes after departing from Værøy Airport runway 25, the aircraft entered an uncontrolled descent and crashed into the sea approximately 1.8 kilometers from the airport. The aircraft was destroyed, and all five occupants were killed. The crash occurred while the aircraft was climbing in marginal weather conditions, following a left bank that led to the uncontrolled descent in a near-vertical attitude. The accident was attributed to excessive wind components that caused the horizontal stabilizer and elevator to fail, rendering the aircraft uncontrollable. The official investigation concluded that the wind encountered during departure exceeded the aircraft's design criteria, leading to the structural failure and subsequent loss of control.

Probable cause

The cause of the accident was that the plane during departure came into the wind that exceeded the aircraft's design criteria. Thus there was a break in the horizontal stabilizer / elevator which meant that the plane could no longer be controlled.
Structural failure

Related events

Same operator

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