The 1975 Kjalarnes helicopter crash occurred on 17 January 1975, when a Sikorsky S-55B helicopter crashed by the Hjarðarnes farm in Hvalfjörður,

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

, while en route from Reykjavík Airport to Snæfellsnes. Seven people were on board, including two crew members and five employees of

RARIK RARIK is the official energy corporation of Iceland. It began operations on January 1 1947. In the early years RARIK built several power plants and in 1954 enacted a 10-year electrification plan to provide remote rural areas with electricity. RARIK ...

, the Icelandic State Electricity company. Everyone on board was killed on impact. It remains the deadliest helicopter crash in Icelandic aviation history. The cause of the crash was ruled to be wind conditions at Hjarðarnes. The helicopter was also believed to have been overloaded but the investigative committee stated that the crash would have likely occurred even if it had been correctly loaded, a ruling confirmed by the

Supreme Court of Iceland The Supreme Court of Iceland (, lit. ''Highest Court of Iceland'') is the final court of appeal in the judiciary of Iceland. It is also the oldest of the current courts of law in Iceland and the highest of the three Icelandic court branches, t ...

in 1983.

Aircraft and crew

The Sikorsky S-55B helicopter was built in 1954 and originally used by the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

. It was operated by Orlando Helicopter Airways from 1971 until it was sold to Þyrluflug hf. which received it on 1 January 1975. The pilot was 31-year old Lúðvík Karlsson, a well known aviation pioneer in Iceland. The second crew member was Kristján S. Helgason, the director of Þyrluflug hf.

References

{{coord missing, Iceland 1975 in Iceland Icelandic Aviation accidents and incidents in Iceland Accidents and incidents involving helicopters