On Christmas Eve 1972, Braathens’ plane “Sverre Sigurdsson” took off at Ålesund airport. A complete twin-engine Fokker F28.
On board were 45 Christmas-ready passengers heading to Oslo to celebrate Christmas with their loved ones. Among them, a new family of three, traveling home for Christmas in Asker.
Suddenly the plane disappears from the radar.
Open the house at Christmas – knew nothing
40 dead
Large parts of Eastern Norway were enveloped in thick fog on 23 December 1972. Eirik Øie was then an air traffic controller at Fornebu. He said to The messenger in 2012 that Braathen’s aircraft in 1972, which was already too low, started to bank too soon to the left.
When the plane disappeared from radar, Øie realized that something was seriously wrong.
More than six hours later, the wreck is found in Vestmarka, outside Asker. Just 15 kilometers from the Fornebu Raceway. A group of volunteers arrived first at the scene where 38 of the 45 people on board had died.
Two more people later died of their injuries.
VOLUNTEERS: A group of boy volunteers were the first to find the wreck. Photo: Dagbladet
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Eva Langebråten, her husband Per Hovland and their newborn daughter Camilla were among the dead.
Vandalized unique cultural heritage: – An assault
– Hope for the longest time
The new family lived in Ålesund, but would celebrate Christmas with Eva’s family in Asker.
– We were really looking forward to them, Eva’s brother Erik Langebråten tells Dagbladet.
In 1972 he was 17 years old. Eva was only 20 years old.
– My father and little sister went to pick them up in Fornebu, but when they got home I saw on my father’s face that something serious had happened, says Erik.
RELATED: Erik Langebråten remembers well the evening of December 23, 1972. Photo: Private.
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The family remained locked in front of their TV screens throughout Christmas Eve, as neighbors and friends who learned of the incident flocked inside.
– We had long hoped that some of them were among the survivors, but finally we had confirmation that they were all dead.
Erik’s best friend stayed there that night until Christmas Eve. They neither slept nor spoke. They just sat there.
– I don’t have much left
The next day, 17-year-old Erik went to Oslo. In the run-up to Christmas, he had signed up to volunteer at an alternative Christmas celebration for the homeless in Oslo.
Eva, the older sister, had been enthusiastic about her brother’s commitment and had sent three ten coins with him to support the project.
– I had no doubts whether or not I should go after the accident, says Erik and continues:
– I felt like I was on a mission from myself and my sister.
National traumas
Erik has just attended a memorial luncheon at Asker Town Hall when Dagbladet speaks to him. A beautiful moment of remembrance, according to him, where around 50 people affected in various ways by the accident gathered.
By the way, some of those who arrived first at the scene of the accident on the fateful evening of Christmas Eve 50 years ago.
The accident investigation board later determined that the aircraft flew too low and was approximately four nautical miles off course during the descent. However, the reason for the deviation from the route could not be determined
THE WRECK OF THE PLANE: It took more than six hours for someone to find the wrecked plane in the forest. Photo: Dagbladet
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– It is so right and important that we commemorate and mark that this year marks 50 years since this tragic and dramatic incident occurred – even if it also hurts, Mayor Lene Conradi said in Asker to NTB.
He called the incident a national and local trauma.
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Quiet walk
Today, a memorial is placed in Myggheim in Vestmarka. A heavily used area and a popular hiking area.
On December 23 of this year, on the occasion of the 50th anniversary, a silent ski walk was organized at the memorial. Erik took part in the walk.
Although Christmas 1972 was undoubtedly turned upside down for the Langebråten family, Erik still sees Christmas today as a pleasant celebration.
In a way, she’s happy that she was “only” 17 when the accident happened.
– You experience so much in the moment that you are a teenager. I woke up knowing something terrible had happened, but at the same time I was able to meet friends and laugh and joke.
