This is the story about Lieutenant Peter Nordström and the tragic J35 Draken accident in the Småland bog. We visited the site where the J35 crashed over 50 years ago. The unique thing about this accident is that the remains of the aircraft and pilot was never recovered. See our YouTube video at the bottom of this post.
The Accident
On the morning of November 30th, 1972, at 11:12 AM, tragedy struck when a J35 Draken plane, piloted by Lieutenant Peter Nordström from the Airforce base in Malmslätt, Sweden, crashed into a bog located 3.5 km south of Malmbäck. Lieutenant Nordström was an experienced pilot with a vast knowledge of the J35 Draken, having accumulated around 130 hours of flight time on this aircraft. The weather on that fateful day resembled typical late autumn conditions, with cloudy skies, slight humidity, an eight knots wind, and an air temperature at 5 degrees centigrade.
Lieutenant Nordström and two colleagues embarked on a practice session for fighter combat, commencing their flight from the F3 Airforce base in Malmslätt. During the exercise, Nordström executed a sharp right turn, entering a cloud, and attempted to transition from manual flight to instrument flight. However, he encountered strong vestibular illusions, which disoriented him as a pilot, making it difficult to distinguish between up and down. As a result, at a speed of 1090 km per hour, Lieutenant Nordström mistakenly perceived he was ascending, when in reality, he was descending straight into the bog.
More details about the accident
The swede Hasse Edberg has written about the J35 Draken accident in the Småland newspaper and brings more details about what happened.
Peter Lundström departed from Malmslätt with wingmen accompanying him. He was the second aircraft in the formation and maintained visual contact with his colleagues on their way to the practice area, situated over Nässjö municipality, Malmberg. During the exercise, they switched roles, with Peter Nordström becoming the chased. The maneuver began with a right turn, during which Peter Nordström and the other pilots leveled out and ascended to create ample space in the practice area.
However, for reasons unknown, Nordström entered the clouds and tragically nosedived vertically into the bog. The crash report corroborates this account.
Conclusion
The accident commission concluded that Nordström’s plane was at full throttle, traveling at 1096 km/h when it crashed into the bog. Due to the nature of the swing-free bog, which is quite deep, locating and recovering the wreckage proved challenging. The searchers encountered difficulties, with the bog seemingly swallowing objects inserted into the ground.
As the years passed, more wreckage might resurface due to gas buildup in the bog. However, presently, a substantial portion of the plane remains submerged. The accident is considered unique, as despite extensive efforts, the remains of Lieutenant Peter Nordström’s aircraft have not been adequately recovered.
In contrast to other incidents where crashed planes were eventually found, Peter Nordström’s plane has largely remained inaccessible in the bog’s depths, adding to the unique nature of the tragedy of this J35 Draken accident.
wreckage and remains
The remains of Liuetant Nordström is still not recovered. The only remains found, is his right hand. With modern equipment and machinery, people interested in the accident thinks it’s highly likely that the remains could be fully recovered. On a windy July morning we set off to find the crash site. Deep into the forest of Småland, we were helped by gps coordinates and slowly found our way towards a place we could park.
Then it was off to foot for about half a kilometre into the forest and later on the swing-free bog.
And then we found it. Far out on the bog.
What was just a small hole 1972 has become a huge hole now, more than a 15 by 15 meter area. Parts from the wreckage is constantly floating up to the surface due the gases in the bog.
1960 – 1972
During the first 12 years of the J35 Draken flying in the Swedish Airforce a total of 59 aircrafts were lost and 22 pilots died. The unique thing about this story is that Lietanant Nordstrom is the only one that was never recovered.
A lot of the accidents were due to human factors but also component failures. Mainly engine issues like fuel pumps, fire indications and fuel system issues.
