British Overseas Airways Corporation - Incidents

Incidents

• On 23 May 1940, Armstrong Whitworth Ensign (G-ADTA) Euryalus crash-landed at RAF Lympne and was damaged. The aircraft was one of six that escaped after a Luftwaffe raid on Merville Airfield, France. The intended destination was Croydon. Approaching the English coast, first she lost her port inner engine and the pilot set course for RAF Hawkinge. A short time later her starboard inner engine also had to be shut down. The pilot changed course for Lympne. On landing, the starboard undercarriage was not fully down, causing the wing to scrape the ground and the aircraft to go through a fence as no braking was attempted. Euryalus was flown to RAF Hamble in June, but it was decided to cannibalise her to repair G-ADSU Euterpe which had been damaged in an accident at Bonnington on 15 December 1939. Euryalus was officially written off on 15 November 1941 and scrapped in September 1942.
• On 15 February 1943, a Consolidated Liberator C I, (G-AGDR), was shot down by a Royal Air Force Supermarine Spitfire in error over the English Channel near Plymouth, England. All five crew and four passengers (including Townsend Griffiss) were killed.
• On 1 June 1943, a Douglas DC-3 (G-AGBB) on Flight 777 was shot down over the Bay of Biscay by German Junkers Ju 88s. All seventeen crew and passengers were killed, including actor Leslie Howard. There has been widespread speculation that the downing was an attempt to kill British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
• On 28 July 1943, a Short Sunderland (G-AGES), crashed into a hill in Dingle Peninsula near the village of Brandon in Ireland on a flight from Lisbon to Foynes. The crash killed 10 passengers and crew out of 25 on board.
• On 17 December 1943, a Lockheed Lodestar (G-AGDE), crashed into the sea off Leuchars, Scotland on a flight from RAF Leuchars to Stockholm-Bromma Airport. The accident killed all 10 passengers and crew on board the flight.
• On 11 January 1947, Douglas C-47A (G-AGJX) crashed at Stowting, Kent whilst on an international scheduled flight from Heathrow to West Africa via Bordeaux. A number of attempts were made to divert in poor weather. The aircraft crashed whilst attempting to land at Lympne. Eight people were killed and eight injured of the five crew and 11 passengers.
• On 2 May 1953, a de Havilland Comet I (G-ALYV) crashed near Calcutta, India after a structural failure of the airframe, when the flight took off from Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport on a flight to Delhi. The crash killed all 43 passengers and crew on board the Comet aircraft.
• On 10 January 1954, Flight 781, a de Havilland Comet I (G-ALYP) ("Yoke-Peter"), took off from Ciampino Airport in Rome, Italy en route to Heathrow Airport in London, England when it suffered an explosive decompression at altitude and crashed into the Mediterranean Sea, killing everyone on board.
• On 13 March 1954, a Lockheed Constellation (G-ALAM), crashed landed at Kallang Airport after a flight from Jakarta. Killing 33 people out of 40 passengers and crew on board.
• On 8 April 1954, de Havilland Comet I (G-ALYY) ("Yoke-Yoke"), was operating as South African Airways Flight 201 when it crashed into the Mediterranean near Naples, Italy.
• Early on Christmas Day 25 December 1954, at 0330 hours, a BOAC Boeing 377 Stratocruiser crashed on landing at Prestwick, killing 28 of the 36 passengers and crew on board. The aircraft had been en route from London to New York City, when, on approach to Prestwick, it entered a steep descent before levelling-out too late and too severely, hitting the ground short of the runway. A number of factors have been attributed to the cause of the crash, including pilot fatigue (the captain was well over his duty limit due to the aircraft being delayed), the landing lights at Prestwick being out of action due to repair and the First Officer either not hearing a command from the Captain for landing lights (which may have helped judge the low cloud base) or mistakenly hitting the flaps, causing the aircraft to stall.
• On 21 September 1955, a Canadair Argonaut (G-ALHL) crashed on its fourth attempt to land at Tripoli International Airport after a flight from London and Rome. The accident killed 15 passengers and crew out of 47 people on board.
• On 24 June 1956, Canadair Argonaut (G-ALHE) crashed after taking off from Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport on a flight to Tripoli International Airport. The crash killed 32 passengers and crew out of 45 people on board.
• On 24 December 1958, a Bristol Britannia 312 (G-AOVD) crashed during a test flight near Winkton, England on the morning of 24 December 1958.
• On 5 March 1966, Flight 911 operated by a Boeing 707 (G-APFE), crashed on Mount Fuji after experiencing clear air turbulence. All 124 on board died.
• On 9 April 1968, Flight 712 a Rolls-Royce Conway engine exploded and broke-off the wing of a Boeing 707 (G-ARWE) following take-off from London Heathrow Airport causing an uncontained wing fire. A successful emergency landing at Heathrow was carried out but a stewardess and four passengers were killed and 38 other passengers were injured as the fire spread during evacuation. The stewardess, Barbara Jane Harrison, was awarded a posthumous George Cross for her part in helping passengers escape.
• On 9 September 1970, Flight 775 became the first British plane to be hijacked as part of the Dawson's Field hijackings.
• On 23 July 1971, BOAC Flight 045, from London to Khartoum, was forced by military jets to landing at Benghazi at 3.30 am. New Sudanese President Babiker El Nur, instated a week previously in a political coup, was instructed to leave the aircraft, otherwise the fighter planes would bomb it. President Babiker El Nur quickly agreed to leave in order to save the lives of the other passengers. He was quickly taken off the aircraft along with his companion, Major Farouk Osman Hamadullah, to be held at gunpoint. Despite the best efforts to save the President and his staff-member, both men were ultimately executed.
• On 3 August 1971, BOAC Flight 600 from Montreal to London was diverted to Denver, Colorado due to a bomb hoax inspired by a TV film Doomsday Flight. The aircraft travelled 3,200 miles out of its way to land in Denver. The supposed bomb was thought to be triggered by flying below 5,000 feet. Denver's airport was above 5,000 feet.