Dan-Air Flight 045

Dan-Air Flight 045 was a Hawker Siddeley HS 748 that overran the runway at Sumburgh Airport after a flight from Belfast International Airport on 10 January 1977. None of the 50 passengers and four crew were killed or injured in the accident.
Accident
Dan-Air Flight 045 took off from Belfast International Airport, Northern Ireland on a flight to Sumburgh Airport, Shetland Islands in Scotland. Whilst en route the flightcrew was in radio contact with air traffic control who told them about the weather conditions over the Shetland Islands. On landing on Sumburgh Airport's Runway 27 the crew was unable to stop the aircraft and the captain deliberately steered it to the left off the side of the runway, where it came to rest in mud adjacent to the end of the runway. The aircraft's nose gear was torn out but there was no fire. All 54 passengers and crew evacuated the aircraft unhurt.
Cause
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch found that the accident was caused by the aircraft landing on a runway of inadequate length in relation to the state of its surface, which was slippery with snow and slush. The commander of the aircraft had been provided with a report on the runway state that was probably invalid at the time he made his approach to land.

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