The Swedish Joint Rescue Coordination Centre has scrambled a massive search party following the loss of a Norwegian C-130 Hercules airplane near Kebnekaise yesterday. The aircraft, which carried a crew of five, was en route from Narvik (Norway) to Kiruna (Sweden) to pick up two cars when it disappeared in the Swedish mountain world.
The search and rescue operation has been active since 15:34 local time yesterday, when JRCC alerted the Skellefteå based rescue helicopter Lifeguard 906 (SE-JOJ). Several air resources have been scrambled, including a police helicopter from Boden (SE-HPV), two Norwegian
Sea Kings, two Danish
EH101 Merlins (that were a part of the same exercise as the lost Hercules plane) and one Swedish
HKP 10 Super Puma (10407). In addition to these helicopters four
Bell 412s have been offered by the Norwegian Armed Forces, two
HKP 15s (Agusta 109) have been launched from the Swedish military helicopter base in Linköping, and an extra rescue helicopter is being prepared by the Swedish Maritime Administration.
Numerous attempts have been made in order to reach the area by air these days, but the rescuers are dealing with bad weather in the harsh mountain areas. Several military fighters and observation airplanes (AWACS, etc) are circling the area and a large ground force is scouting the terrain.
Update: Scattered pieces of the wreckage were found near the ridge between the two peaks of Sweden's highest mountain,
Mt Kebnekaise, on March 17 (two days after the accident).