British European Airways - BEA

The accident occurred at 2208 hours during an unscheduled flight from London to Prestwick where the aircraft mas to pick up passengers for BOAC under a charter arrangement and fly them to London. The aircraft took off at 2042 hours GMT from London Airport, cruised on the Airways at 18 500 ft and then commenced the descent to Prestwick with an initial clearance to 8 500 ft. Within a few minutes the clearance was amended to cross the Prestwick radio beacon at 4 000 ft. The descent appeared to the pilots to be normal until the aircraft struck the ground close to the site of the beacon very shortly after the captain had reported passing 11 000 ft in the holding pattern. The aircraft slid along the ground for 400 yards, and fire broke out in the starboard wing, Of the five crew aboard the aircraft, three were seriously injured. The airplane was totally destroyed by fire.

The aircraft had carried out a special flight on 3 February 1958, from England to Belgrade, making an intermediate landing at Munich-Riem Airport for refuelling purposes. On 6 February it flew back from Belgrade, bound for Manchester. As planned, it again made an intermediate landing at Munich to refuel, landing there at 1417LT. The aircraft made three attempts at take-off, two were abandoned, and the accident occurred during the third attempt. The copilot abandoned the first take-off because the boost pressure readings of both engines showed upward variations, rising 2 or 3 inches above the usual reading of 57.5 inches. The second attempt to take-off followed immediately after the aircraft had taxied back to the beginning of the runway. The engine run-up was not repeated. The captain abandoned the second take-off because the boost pressure reading (this time on the port engine only) again rose beyond the normal maximum value to 60 inches. In each case the take-off was abandoned approximately half way down the runway. After the second attempt the aircraft continued rolling as far as the end of the runway and from there proceeded to the terminal building. The passengers disembarked, and the BEA station engineer went aboard. He then pointed out to the two pilots that the variations in boost pressure were connected with the elevation of Munich Airport. After a short discussion, the pilots decided to make a third (attempt at) take-off, and the passengers were told to board the aircraft again. Before the fresh (attempt to) take- off, a further engine run-up was carried out. After take-off had begun, the boost pressure reading of the port engine again fluctuated somewhat, but this ceased after the captain had throttled back slightly for a short time. After he had opened up the throttle fully again, no further fluctuation were observed. The aircraft never became airborne in the course of the third attempt at take-off. It traveled on over the whole length of the runway and the adjoining grass-covered stopway (250 m). At the end of the stopway it crashed through a wooden fence which marked the aerodrome boundary, cleared a secondary road and struck a house standing on the other side of the road. The left wing was torn off outboard of the engine mounting. Parts of the tail unit were also torn off here. The house caught fire. The aircraft then crashed into a wooden hut standing on a concrete base about 100 m further on, striking it with the right side of the rear section of the fuselage. The fuselage was torn away on a level with the trailing edge of the wing. The hut and the part of the fuselage which was torn away caught fire. The remainder of the aircraft wreckage slid on for a further 70 m. Of the 44 occupants (6 crew and 38 passengers) on board, 21 were killed instantly. The others received injuries of a more or less serious nature. Two died later in hospital as a result of their injuries. The house which was struck by the aircraft was badly damaged by fire. The hut was destroyed by fire. Among those killed were eight players and the trainer. The president of the club and ten other players survived the accident.

On the day of the accident the aircraft had taken off from London Airport at 0130 hours GMT on a scheduled flight to Kastrup Airport, Copenhagen, carrying a crew of 2 and a cargo of mail, freight and newspapers. The flight was without incident until when holding over Radio Beacon Bella, three of the aircraft's four engines stopped. It lost height and a forced landing was made at 0403 hours GMT, 14 miles northwest of Kastrup. The aircraft was considerably damaged, but there was no fire. The crew were not injured.

The aircraft departed London Airport at 1516LT hours GMT on a flight to Belfast in pursuance of a special charter, carrying 5 crew and 2 company employees. At 1645 the aircraft was taken over by the Precision Approach Controller for a GCA talkdown on runway 28 (276°) in weather conditions which the captain thought would allow him to become visual at or above his critical height of 500 ft. Soon after '3/4 of a mile from touchdown' the aircraft was to the right of the centerline and shortly afterwards was 'well right of centerline', Just after '1/2 a mile from touchdown' the Precision Approach Controller said 'if you're overshooting turn left left 5° on overshoot over' to which the reply came '...overshooting'. At about this time a number of witnesses heard the aircraft "rev-up". Shortly thereafter (at 1651 hours) the aircraft crashed within the boundary of the airport approximately 1,000 ft to the south of the western end of runway 28, killing all occupants.

The four engine aircraft departed Glasgow Airport with a crew of two and a doctor who were flying to Port Ellen to pick up a patient. The approach to Port Ellen was started by night and marginal weather conditions. While making a turn to join the runway path, the airplane struck the ground with its left wing, cartwheeled and crashed. All three occupants were killed and the aircraft was destroyed.

The aircraft was reaching the end of a scheduled passenger flight from Schiphol, Amsterdam, with a crew of 5 and 15 passengers aboard. Until the aircraft was roughly a mile from the threshold of the runway it was apparently making a perfectly normal approach, then it made a banked turn to starboard and continued to descend until the starboard wing tip struck the ground. With the starboard wing furrowing the earth and breaking up, the aircraft, obviously completely out of control, went on until it struck some houses, demolishing two of them (in one of which a woman and her infant son were killed). The aircraft came to rest in the ruins of the houses and immediately caught fire and set fire to the houses. All the crew members and passengers were killed in the accident. The position of the final crash was about 900 yards short of the runway and 200 yards to the right of its extended centre line.

The aircraft took off from London Airport at 0755LT on a training flight, which was part of a routine base check being carried out by a training captain on a line captain. Having completed the first part of the check the aircraft landed at Blackbushe. At approximately 0850LT a takeoff was commenced from this airport for another exercise. On reaching the takeoff safety speed the training captain simulated a starboard outer engine failure. At this point the aircraft was just leaving the ground and as it did so the starboard inner propeller was seen to be stopping and the aircraft began turning to the right with an increasing amount of bank. It rose to about 30 feet and then descended and hit the ground at a point 250 yards from the runway in a steeply banked, nose-down attitude. It cartwheeled, slid along the ground backwards for 200 yards and came to rest just inside the northwest boundary of the aerodrome. The aircraft sustained major impact damage and fire broke out which almost completely destroyed it. The five occupants escaped with only slight injuries.

About six minutes after takeoff from Düsseldorf-Lohausen Airport, while in initial climb, the crew reported engine problems and received the permission to return. At this time, it appears that the left engine went into reverse. After completing a circuit, the pilot continued the approach at low height and in poor weather conditions when high tension wires forced him to gain height. He increased power on the right engine but the aircraft stalled and hit the ground with its left wing that was severely bent and partially sheared off. Upon impact, the left engine was sheared off and the airplane came to rest in a muddy field located few km from the airport. All 53 occupants were evacuated and only the crew was slightly injured. The aircraft was written off.

During the takeoff roll at Paris-Le Bourget Airport, a tire burst on one of the main gear. As the decision speed was reached, the crew continued the takeoff procedure and started the rotation. During initial climb, the captain encountered vibrations and informed ATC about the situation. He decided to return and completed a belly landing. On touchdown, the aircraft slid for dozen yards, veered off runway to the right and came to rest in a grassy area. All 34 occupants were evacuated safely while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

The crew started the approach to Belfast-Nutt's Corner by night and in marginal weather conditions. On final, the aircraft christened 'Lord Saint Vincent' was too low and hit the approach light number six (the top of which is 113 feet below the glide path) and appeared to level out. It touched down some 250 feet further on, ran along the ground for about 82 feet, rose again, struck the SBA van, came down again and struck the ILS building before breaking up about 200 yards short of runway 28 threshold. Eight occupants were injured while 27 others were killed, among them three crew members. The aircraft was destroyed.