Norway Military Loses Plane During Exercise Mission


Five people aboard a Norwegian military transport plane went missing on Thursday while performing military exercises. The plane is feared to have crashed in northern Sweden however further investigation is underway.

The plane, a C-130 was on its way from Evenes in northern Norway to Kiruna, Sweden where it was set to pick up additional personnel.

When the plane was approximately 80-90 kilometers west of Kiruna air traffic controllers lost contact with the planes pilots and 13 minutes later the plane fell off the towers radar system.

According to Norwegian military spokesman John Espen:

“We have to assume that we are looking for a plane that has crashed.”

Rescue services in Sweden and Norway were immediately dispatched to search for survivors of which at least four of the five people on board are believed to be Norwegian.

The plan was taking part in a winter exercise called Cold Response in which 16,000 soldiers from 14 different countries participate in various Norwegian-led exerices.

According to the countries military Cold Response was setup:

“To rehearse high intensity operations in winter conditions within NATO with a U.N. mandate.”

It’s still unclear at this time if other rescue services from participating countries have also been dispatched to help with search and rescue efforts.

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