Report on aviation accident near Gjernestangen outside Risør, Norway, on 19 May 1974 with Luscombe 8E Silvaire, LN-MAI

Aviation report 1977/05

The airplane took off from Geiteryggen airport outside Skien, Norway with the pilot and one passenger on board. They were flying to Portør just north of Risør to look at a cabin. Several witnesses at Gjernestangen observed the airplane flying straight and level over the area from the northwest or west at 200-250 meters altitude. Suddenly the right wing separated from the fuselage and the airplane crashed into the ocean and sank approximately 500 meters from land. Both the pilot and passenger died. The cause of the accident was that the bolt that attached the right wing strut to the lower fuselage came loose, resulting in the right wing separating from the aircraft. The bolt used to attach the wing strut was not original, and had either been installed without a nut, or with a nut not properly tightened and locked.

Facts