Flugsaga íslands

The documentary focuses, among other things, on the most serious disasters in Icelandic aviation history, including the charter flight that crashed on November 15, 1978, on approach just short of the runway at the international airport of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Out of a total of 262 passengers and crew members, 183 lost their lives. The official report by Sri Lankan authorities gave the probable cause of the crash as being failure of the crew to conform to approach procedures, but the U.S. and Icelandic authorities officially claim faulty equipment at the airport and air traffic control error as the cause of the crash. It is by far the worst crash in Icelandic aviation history and the second worst in Sri Lankan aviation history after Martinair Flight 138 that crashed four years before. The flight departed Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, on route to Surabaya in Indonesia. It was to land at Colombo-Bandaranaike International Airport for a refueling stop and crew rotation. Thunderstorms were in the area, and windshear was an issue.