Gatwick Airport - Incidents and Accidents

Incidents and Accidents

• 15 September 1936 – a British Airways Ltd de Havilland DH 86 operating a night mail flight to Germany crashed on takeoff, killing the airline's chief pilot and two members of the aircraft's crew.
• November 1936 – a British Airways Ltd Fokker F 12 crashed in a wood 4.5 mi (7.2 km) south of Gatwick whilst executing its final approach to the airport under a low ceiling in poor visibility, killing both pilots and severely injuring the engineer.
• 17 February 1959 – a Turkish Airlines Vickers Viscount 794D (registration: TC-SEV) on an international charter flight crashed in heavy fog at Newdigate, Surrey, whilst approaching to land at Gatwick. The plane hit some trees. Fourteen of 24 on board died. Turkish Prime Minister Adnan Menderes was amongst the survivors.
• 2 September 1963 – an Iberia Lockheed L-1049G Super Constellation (registration: EC-AMQ) leased by Aviaco and operating a charter flight from Barcelona, Spain, brushed trees on Russ Hill while on final approach to London Gatwick. Although the aircraft sustained minor damage as a result of this incident, which occurred during the descent, ca. 220 ft (67 m) above and 1.75 NM (3.24 km; 2.01 mi) from the runway threshold, it landed safely and none of the 75 passengers on board were injured.
• 5 January 1969 – a Boeing 727-113C (registration: YA-FAR) operating flight 701 of Ariana Afghan Airlines arriving from Frankfurt Rhein-Main Airport, Germany, crashed into a house in Fernhill near Horley, Surrey, in low visibility. The flaps were not extended to maintain flight at final approach speed. Forty-eight of the 62 on board died as well as two on the ground.
• 28 January 1972 – a British Caledonian Vickers VC10-1109 (registration: G-ARTA) sustained severe structural damage as a result of an exceptionally hard landing at Gatwick at the end of a short ferry flight from Heathrow, where the aircraft had been diverted due to Gatwick being fog-bound and where all passengers had disembarked. A survey of the aircraft's damage revealed that its airframe had been bent out of shape and that it required extensive repairs to be restored to an airworthy condition. The airline's senior management decided that these repairs were not cost-effective. The aircraft was written off and a decision taken to have it scrapped. It was eventually broken up at Gatwick in 1975.
• 20 July 1975 – a British Island Airways (BIA) Handley Page Dart Herald 201 (registration: G-APWF) was involved in a runway accident while departing on a scheduled flight to Guernsey. The aircraft lifted off from runway 26 after a ground run of 2,490 ft (760 m) and appeared airborne for 411 ft (125 m) with its landing gear retracting before the rear underside of the fuselage settled back on to the runway, bringing the aircraft to a stop. The investigation concluded that the landing gear was retracted before the aircraft had become established in a climb, contributed by use of an incorrect flap setting and incorrect takeoff speeds. Although the aircraft suffered substantial damage, none of the 45 occupants were hurt.