Three of the four SAR helicopters available in the area grounded due inclement weather. It's been foul up there overnight, but land-based patrols in teams of four have been making progress, in constant contact with AWACS. Strange that not one ELT signal has been caught - that's one out of a possible six (acft plus lifejackets - if they were worn; this was an overland military flight). Acft was the newest of four C130J Super-Hercules the RNAF have had in operation since August 2010. High-ranking, highly-skilled crew on board.

More than 100 people involved in search operation. Snow scooter patrol did not find anything at location of heat signals. Search area is 5 km long, west of Kebnekaise including its two summits. Swedish newspaper has published names of missing persons, among them one female:
Här kan planet finnas - Nyheter - Kuriren - Norrbottens-Kuriren

Names and pictures of missing crew officially released:
http://1.vgc.no/drfront/images/2012/...=354;33525.jpg
Dette er de savnede etter flystyrten - VG Nett om Forsvaret

Helicopters grounded due to weather, they launched but had to turn back. Weather is too bad to get to the mountain tops, ground search teams restricted to valleys for the moment.

Great avalanche risk in search area. Recent live feed from helicopter landing:
VGTV

The problem in that sort of terrain is that one good snowfall and the crash site becomes perfectly camouflaged from the air and I would imagine getting into some of the small valleys on foot could be a problem if not impossible.

Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet now reports that rader observations showed the aircraft descending, then climbing before radar contact was lost. Also, the a/c was supposedly on the south side of the tall mountain range Kebnekaise, as opposed to on the north side as expected. There is speculation that the a/c was off course and might have been flying less then 200 AGL.

The information is from the Swedish leader of the rescue operation, himself a pilot. If this is correct its hard not to think CFIT.

Animation of route: VGTV

Two last observations showed altitude of 7200 feet (civilian radar), then shortly after at 7600 feet (military radar).

The two highest mountain peaks here are about 2100 meter, so ~6900 feet.

Varmesignatur var ikke savnet fly - VG Nett om Forsvaret

Rick -

Or fin stall; icing; wind sheer...

:(

The area on a better day:
http://1.vgc.no/drfront/images/2012/...=516;33556.jpg

Names mainly in Lappish (Sami language):
http://gfx.dagbladet.no/labrador/207...ctive/978x.jpg

The situation out there seems to be still very dynamic and challenging with hurricane force winds and very bad visibility. However, the latest now is that an Orion is reporting to have spotted some "orange colour" on the ground in the search area. There is definitely still hope. They are equiped with survival equipment that will allow them to wait out the worst of the weather until search and rescue becomes easier. All available resources are being used, with a large number of aircraft including Sea King, F16, AWACS, Orion and other civil rotary assets as well as snowscooter patrols on the ground at present. Let us all hope and pray for the best and that they are all safe and well on the news later, with a good story to tell.

Observation in north-east corner of search area
 

The observation of an orange-coloured part was made by a Norwegian Orion in the north-eastern corner of the search area. Helicopters are investigating, now even joined by two Danish Merlins.
The missing crew is trained and equipped to survive for days in harsh winter conditions.
The situation at 1500 CET according to local newspaper:
# F16 airborne
# Orion airborne
# American Hercules airborne
# British AIWACS "Hawkeye" airborne
# Swedish rescue 301 (Super Puma) airborne
# Lifeguard 906 returned to Kiruna
# Saver 20 (Norwegian Sea King) on ground i Kiruna.
# Four Norwegian Bell 414 on their way.
# Two Swedish HKP15s on their way from Malmen.

For you with knowledge in the nordic languages, I can recommend this page to get a more official news feed, directly from the JRCC. Probably a little more reliable than the ordinary newspapers. Norskt Hercules-plan saknas mellan Evenes (Narvik) och Kiruna - Sjofartsverket

Agreed, 'Just this once'.

Having Nordic family connections myself and having had the very great honour of serving alongside Norwegian and Swedish forces in theatre, I am delighted although not surprised to see this extent of inter-allied cooperation and like everyone else I can only hope for a good outcome.

Have had several contacts with the Norwegians, including exchange visit to their Academy at Trondheim (in 84 and my head still hurts) and hosted their King at "my" Yacht Club. Fabulous people - my fingers and toes are crossed and since, unusually, I am in Church tomorrow, maybe even a prayer. Good luck to the crew and the searchers

Aaah Bugger.

Here's hoping they are huddled up trying to stay warm and waiting.......
Not a happy time, BZ to all busting guts and moving the earth trying to find em.

Kerosine smell reported
 

Norwegian news on two channels confirm that mountain climbers have found possible parts of wreckage smelling of kerosene on both sides of ridge.
The plane was brand new state-of-the-art, christened "Siv" in 2010 (Norwegian woman's name, incidentally shared by one of the missing crewmembers). It flew together with two other planes that turned back immediately when contact was lost. Wind at the time of the event was reported as 250 km/h, twice that of a "normal" hurricane, that should be 135 knots, is that possible?

ELTs on board?
 

It's unclear if any ELT has been heard. How many ELTs does a C130J carry? What type are they?
Do they have any portable radios on board as standard eqpt?

Roaldp

I believe wind speeds can be affected by terrain particularly in and around narrow valleys - pressure differentials and so on.

This is why I think there may well have bee a localised effect on the wx and perhaps succumbed to wind sheer.

Fingers firmly crossed.

Norwegian RCC North confirms that a Swedish ground search team has located something described as "..parts of a padded aircraft seat and som velcro soaked in kerozine"