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Førdesveten accident

6 Sept 1948 · Førdesveten in Sund Municipality

Royal Norwegian Air Force Consolidated PBY Catalina · Controlled flight into terrain

From Stavanger Airport, Sola (SVG) to Herdla

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Event

Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
Accident
Event fatalities
13 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
Unknown
Occupants
Unknown
Survivors
2
InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
Unknown
OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
Military

Consolidated PBY Catalina

Category
Airplane · from aircraft type
RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
KA-K
Onboard fatalities
13
Route
From Stavanger Airport, Sola (SVG)To Herdla

Cause areas

  • Personnel issues › Psychological

From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.

Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.

From the Wikipedia article

The Førdesveten accident was an air accident that occurred at the mountain Førdesveten in Sund Municipality in Hordaland on 6 September 1948. A Catalina from the Royal Norwegian Air Force's 333 Squadron, with the code KA-K, was on a transport mission from Sola Air Station to Herdla when it flew in thick fog into Førdesveten. The aircraft had a crew of 9, with 6 military passengers on official assignment to register materiel, technical installations and operational conditions with a view to a possible closure of the coastal fort in the north of Askøy. Only two people survived the accident, which was the largest accident the Royal Norwegian Air Force had had in peacetime up to then.

Investigation and cause

Investigation

After the accident an accident investigation commission was set up, led by Major Per Thorendahl, who was chief of staff of Air Command Trøndelag. The commission concluded that the accident was caused by the pilot mistaking the sounds in the fog. The pilot believed he had a bearing on Lerøyosen, while in reality he was over Steinslandsundet.

Translated into English with AI assistance from the Norwegian Wikipedia article “Førdesveten-ulykken” (revision 23789606, retrieved 2026-09-19) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out; the translation may contain errors, and long articles were cut to their first 700 words. Read the article

Sources

Norwegian Wikipedia article: Førdesveten-ulykken
Article
Førdesveten-ulykken
Translation
Into English with AI assistance; names of linked operators and aircraft types from Wikidata. It may contain errors.
Revision
23789606 · 2023-08-28 · retrieved 2026-09-19
Wikidata
Q11971365
Licence
Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
Record
no Wikipedia article "Førdesveten-ulykken" (page 133743, revision 23789606), translated into English with AI assistance
Date
Wikipedia infobox: date
Place and country
Wikipedia infobox: site; country from Wikidata (P17)
Map position
Wikipedia article coordinates
Aircraft, operator and route
Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
Operation
operator named as an armed force or military unit in the infobox
Fatalities
Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
Ground fatalities
not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
Summary
Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
  • Wikipedia · Facts from the Norwegian Wikipedia article's infobox, translated into English with AI assistance, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.