Aero Flight 311 (AY311), often referred to as the Koivulahti air disaster, was a scheduled domestic passenger flight operated by Aero O/Y (now Finnair) between Kronoby, Finland and Vaasa. The aircraft, a Douglas DC-3C, crashed near Kvevlax (Finnish: Koivulahti) on January 3, 1961, killing all twenty-five people on board. The disaster remains the deadliest civilian aviation accident in the history of Finland.
The captain of the flight, a World War...
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Aero Flight 311 (AY311), often referred to as the Koivulahti air disaster, was a scheduled domestic passenger flight operated by Aero O/Y (now Finnair) between Kronoby, Finland and Vaasa. The aircraft, a Douglas DC-3C, crashed near Kvevlax (Finnish: Koivulahti) on January 3, 1961, killing all twenty-five people on board. The disaster remains the deadliest civilian aviation accident in the history of Finland.
The captain of the flight, a World War II fighter ace, was initially the focus of many tributes in the press after the accident, which however turned into blame after the police revealed both pilots were intoxicated at the time of flying.
The Douglas DC-3, registered OH-LCC, was scheduled to take-off at 7:00, but take-off preparations were late and the plane departed at 7:16. The co-pilot requested free flying altitude from the air traffic control, which was permitted. This allowed Flight 311 to fly at any altitude above the minimum flight altitude for the Kruununkylä-Vaasa route...
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