Passengers 12 Fatalities 15 Date 3 October 1978 | Crew 3 Survivors 0 Number of deaths 15 Location Siilinjärvi | |
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Summary Engine failure, pilot error, stall Site Rissala, Siilinjärvi, Finland Similar 1978 LAV HS 748 accident, 1978 Iranian Chinook, Aero Flight 217, 1978 Balkan Bulgarian, Continental Airlines Flight 603 | ||
The Finnish Air Force DC-3 disaster occurred when a plane of this class crashed into Lake Juurusvesi in Rissala on 3 October 1978, killing all fifteen people on board. It was caused by a cracked exhaust valve, resulting from metal fatigue in an engine cylinder.
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Incident
The crash, also known as the Rissala air disaster, killed all fifteen people on board, including politicians and prominent businessmen attending a national defence course organized by the Finnish Defence Forces.
After the airplane departed Kuopio Airport at 21:31 local time, one of its engines lost power. The pilot attempted to return to the airport, but during the turn the aircraft lost altitude and impacted Lake Juurusvesi.
Investigation
The primary cause of the accident was found to be mechanical failure resulting from a fatigue breakdown in one of the cylinders of the No.2 engine, which resulted in cracking of an exhaust valve. The airplane had been maintained and was checked the previous day, but the crack would only have been visible by partially disassembling the engine.
The investigation board determined that the attention of the crew was concentrated on the engine failure instead of flying with one engine, possibly due to carrying out engine fire drills.
Aftermath
The accident hastened replacing the aging DC-3 fleet of the Finnish Air Force with Fokker F.27s. Air force and Finnair pilots were given more training for emergency situations.
Victims
Source: YLE
Tarja Halonen, the future President of Finland, then MP (SDP) would have been a passenger on the flight had her doctor not advised her not to fly, due to her late-stage pregnancy.