The airline emphasized that the planes had not been officially grounded by the British government, but that the action was being taken as "a measure of prudence to enable a minute and unhurried technical examination of every aircraft in the Comet fleet to be carried out at maintenance headquarters at London airport."[10]. Tennessee Mrs. Frances Kay McGregor Memphis [5] It then turned right again toward the mountain, flying over Gotemba on a heading of approximately 298, at an indicated airspeed of 320 to 370 knots, and an altitude of approximately 16,000ft (4,900m), well above the 12,388ft (3,776m) mountain peak. No member of the flight crew recalls hearing the fire warning bell. BOAC Flight 911 (callsign 'Speedbird 911') was a round-the-world flight operated by British . 1996, p. 130. 17 California residents. The aircraft was then seen to be shedding pieces and then a large puff of vapour came from the aircrafts tail. Just minutes after the BOAC 707 took off at 1:58 p.m. for Hong Kong en route to London, the Tokyo Weather Bureau reported severe winds over Mt. Beverly Lucille Heemstra Miss Linda Natalie Lohnes Boston or Milton Saturday 5 March 1966. Airline Lists Passengers and Crew in Mt. The weather there had since improved behind a cold front with a steep pressure gradient bringing cool dry air from the Asian mainland on a strong west-northwest flow, with crystal-clear sky conditions. The fire services prevented the fuel in the starboard tanks from catching fire but the rear fuselage and port wing were burned out. 30 December: BOAC took delivery of its first two Bristol Britannia 102 aircraft when G-ANBC and G-ANBD were delivered from Filton to London Airport. The undercarriage locked down normally but the hydraulic pressure and contents were seen to fall and the flaps stopped extending at 470, that is 30 short of their full range. Two crew members and 13 passengers were killed and the aircraft was destroyed. ), California: Marian C. Cochran Ben Lomond The aircraft began taxiing at 13:50 and took off into the northwest wind at 13:58. Philip Rosenberg, 52 A passenger aboard Speedbird 911 had been filming with an 8 mm movie camera. Last edited on 24 November 2022, at 03:40, Learn how and when to remove this template message, List of accidents and incidents involving commercial aircraft, List of notable decompression accidents and incidents, "On This Day 10 January 1954: Comet jet crashes with 35 on board", "Lamentable, Untimely Passing of Dorothy Baker", Civil Aircraft Accident Report of the Court of Inquiry into the Accidents to Comet GALYP on 10th January, 1954 and Comet GALYY on 8th April, 1954, "British Suspend Comets' Flights For Study of Crash Fatal To 35", "ObjectWiki: Fuselage of de Havilland Comet Airliner G-ALYP", "Report of the Public Inquiry into the causes and circumstances of the accident which occurred on the 10th January, 1954, to the Comet aircraft G-ALYP", Lessons Learned From Transport Airplane Accidents, Photo of reconstructed wreckage of G-ALYP, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=BOAC_Flight_781&oldid=1123507369, In-flight metal fatigue failure leading to explosive decompression and mid-air break-up, Shreds of cabin carpet were found trapped in the remains of the Comet's tail section, The imprint of a coin was found on a fuselage panel from the rear of the aircraft, Smears and scoring on the rear fuselage were tested and found to be consistent to the paint applied to the passenger seats of the Comet, This page was last edited on 24 November 2022, at 03:40. The Comet's pressure cabin had been designed to a safety factor comfortably in excess of that required by British Civil Airworthiness Requirements (BCAR)the requirement was 1.33 times P with an ultimate load of 2 times P (where P is the cabin's "Proof" pressure), but the safety factor used in the Comet was 2.5 times Phence the accident led to revised estimates for the safe loading strength requirements of airliner pressure cabins. After takeoff, the aircraft made a continuous climbing right turn over Tokyo Bay, and rolled out on a southwest heading, passing north of Odawara. Cho-o Ikeya, a fireman, reported that plane seemed to plunge rapidly at first, then slowed down. Air Disaster Volume 1, p.4849, Stone, Richard, "124 die in 2nd Japan air disaster" quote:"A BOAC spokesman said 75 of the Americans aboard were members of a tour sponsored by Thermo King Corp. of Minneapolis, Minn.". During a fourth attempt, he descended below the glide when the aircraft hit trees and crashed 1,200 yards short of runway 11. The search effort involved the pioneering use of underwater TV cameras, developed by a team at the UK Admiralty Research Laboratory led by George MacNeice, to help to locate and salvage the wreckage in deep water.[9]. [3], On 11 January 1954, The New York Times reported that "35 persons were almost certainly killed when a British Comet jet airliner crashed into the sea between the islands of Elba and Montecristo, off the Italian western coast." After staying overnight at Fukuoka, Flight 911 left for Tokyo at 11:25 and landed there at 12:43. These passengers, Albert R. Broccoli, Harry Saltzman, Ken Adam, Lewis Gilbert, and Freddie Young, were in Japan scouting locations for the fifth James Bond film, You Only Live Twice (1967). [6] Analysis of the location of wreckage allowed the accident investigators to determine that the vertical stabiliser attachment to the fuselage failed first. Gertrude Margaret Porter A short time later, the ventral fin and all four engine pylons failed due to a leftward over-stress, shortly followed by the remainder of the empennage. In the restricted visibility the runway lights gave him insufficient guidance as to attitude, height and angle of approach and unknowingly he permitted the aircraft to descend below its correct approach path. The wind was blowing hard from the Asian mainland to the west of Japan, and the air was clear and dry,, giving unusually good visibility, and, less happily, what Macarthur Job calls mountain wave systems. About 14 minutes after the start of the fire, No. This was unknown to the flight crew but because of the separation the light in the fire handle would have gone out. The check pilot suggested, and the co-pilot with the pilot-in-command's approval broadcast, a "Mayday" call. 124 (89 US). Aviation experts, probing the wreckage, said today freak air currents and sudden severe winds may have ripped the British Overseas Airways Corp. Boeing 707 apart minutes after takeoff from Tokyos International Airport. Nevertheless, the fire warning light in No. At the last moment, all of them cancelled their tickets for BOAC flight 911 to attend a Ninja demonstration and establish whether it could have a place in the upcoming film. Louis Joseph Decarolis Rochester The violent forces exerted by the turbulent air could have caused structural failure of one of the engines, leading to a subsequent fire. The victims included a group of 75 Americans associated with the Thermo King company of Minneapolis, Minnesota, on a two-week company-sponsored tour of Japan and Southeast Asia. Passing over Gotemba, the aircraft turned northwest and began a slow descent towards the 12,400ft mountain. The height presentation afforded by the type of three-pointer altimeter fitted to the subject aircraft was such that a higher degree of attention was required to interpret it accurately than is desirable in so vital an instrument. The accident was the result of the aircraft being flown into ground obscured by fog. Shortly afterwards, witnesses reported seeing the aircraft trailing white vapour. 130.). BOAC Flight 911 was a scheduled service from San Francisco (SFO) to Hong Kong (HKG) via Honolulu (HNL) and Tokyo (HND). Although the US bound flight had to stop to refuel in Newfoundland, the London flight made the journey non-stop in six hours and 11 minutes. Lewis Vanderwall Chicago Three times, the captain decided to abandon the approach procedure for a go around maneuver. Helen R. Kerwin Mary Rose Jackson It is one of those stories that make your blood run cold and even with the odds of being killed on a single airline flight at 1 in 29.4 million, fear is a constant companion of many air travellers. It is shared by multiple agencies (county and municipal), each wih its own CTCSS tone. An 8 mm film exposed by one of the passengers was recovered from the wreckage. Reginald Frederick Freestone San Francisco You did not seriously expect a new James Bond film any time soon, did you? The cabin crew had made preparations for an emergency landing and as the aircraft came to a stop opened the emergency exits and started rigging the escape chutes. To add to the pilot-in-command's difficulties, during the final approach the flight engineer informed him that the instruments of No. Lawrence Francis Boisseau. Wisconsin: Donald J. Fleming Green Bay This accident was one of five fatal aircraft disastersfour commercial and one militaryin Japan in 1966 and occurred less than 24 hours after Canadian Pacific Airlines Flight 402 crashed and burned on landing at Haneda. There were 26 couples travelling together in the group, and a total of 63 children were orphaned as a result of the accident. Oklahoma: Warren Arthur Oklahoma City Marie Evelina Jannell The aircraft began taxiing at 13:50 and took off into the northwest wind at 13:58. Then there were flames, with both segments burning. The evacuation of passengers had been largely completed by the time the airport fire and rescue services began to provide assistance. Saturday 5 March 1966.). Air Disaster Volume 1, p.45, Job, Macaurthur. BOAC Flight 911 (callsign 'Speedbird 911') was a round-the-world flight operated by the British Overseas Airways Corporation that crashed near Mount Fuji in . The mid-aft fuselage together with the wing, making a slow flat spin to the right, crashed into a forest at the foot of Mount Fuji. BOAC's chairman commented on television, "We obviously wouldn't be flying the Comet with passengers if we weren't satisfied conditions were suitable." AP. Suspicion then shifted to the possibility of an engine turbine explosion, and modifications were instigated in other Comets, where the turbine ring was encased with armour plate to contain a possible disintegration of the turbine disk. On 10 January 1954, a de Havilland Comet passenger jet operating the flight suffered an explosive decompression at altitude and crashed, killing all 35 people on board. Almost simultaneously the pilot-in-command ordered fire drill on the remaining engines. It went down in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The worst turbulence in such conditions is found in a standing rotor, a highly agitated body of air rotating about a horizontal axis downwind from and parallel to the mountain ridge producing the air disturbance. July 7, 2017. The investigators examined the final piece of wreckage with a microscope.[7]. Possibly with the intention of shortening the flying time to Hong Kong, the captain of the flight elected not to follow the usual southbound departure from Tokyo toward the island of Izu Oshima. At 9.37am American Airlines flight 77 crashed into the side of the Pentagon in Washington, DC. Several booked passengers cancelled their tickets at the last moment to see a ninja demonstration. Analysis of the location of wreckage allowed the accident investigators to determine that the vertical stabiliser attachment to the fuselage failed first. The movement of the dummies within the air cabin revealed the cause of the skull fractures: at the moment that the fuselage exploded, they were thrown out of their seats and slammed head-first into the ceiling. He also discovered in most of the victims a distinct pattern of injuries, consisting of fractured skulls and ruptured and otherwise damaged lungs, which he identified as the actual cause of death. Nevertheless, they were aware that a serious fire continued to burn. The mid-aft fuselage together with the wing, making a slow flat spin to the right, crashed into a forest at the foot of Mount Fuji. BOAC Flight 911 (callsign 'Speedbird 911') was a round-the-world flight operated by British Overseas Airways Corporation that crashed near Mount Fuji in Japan on 5 March 1966, with the loss of all 113 passengers and 11 crew members. Or God had a lucky star over Bond. Nearly all were bound for Hong Kong, with eight bound for Rangoon, Burma; one for Karachi, Pakistan, and one for London. Here are the names of all of those who lost their lives in the attacks. The approach to Runway 05 R was made from a difficult position, the aircraft being close to the runway and having reached a height of about 3 000 ft and a speed of 225 kt. Ruby Irene Crouch Minnesota: Ralph Vincent Kerwin Minneapolis It was the third fatal passenger airline accident in Tokyo in a month, following the crash of All Nippon Airways Flight 60 on 4 February and that of Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 402 just the day before. The possibility of failure of the pressure cabin was also considered, but this theory was discounted because the Comet's cabin had been designed to a considerably higher strength than was considered necessary at the time. Fuji. 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