Faulty gyro caused Swedish aircraft crash? - Brief Article

Airline Industry Information, Jan 13, 2000

AIRLINE INDUSTRY INFORMATION-(C)1997-2000 M2 COMMUNICATIONS LTD

It is possible that it was a gyro in the instrument board that caused an aircraft to crash shortly after takeoff from Sundsvall, Sweden in early December last year.

There were seven passengers and the pilot in the aircraft when it crashed and noone survived. According to the investigating commission, it is possible that a gyro that shows the course of the aircraft malfunctioned, causing the crash.

The Piper PA-31 aircraft lost contact with the airport shortly after takeoff and crashed 25km north of Sundsvall's Midlanda airport. It was owned by Twin Air, a company based in Gothenburg.

An eye-witness has said that the aircraft dove almost straight down from about 300m without a sound, not even from the impact. The air traffic control at Midlanda has said that the contact with the aircraft was lost at about 300m when it disappeared off the radar screens. Before that, the pilot had told air traffic control that there was a problem with the compass.

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