1977 British Airtours Boeing 707 crash

Last updated

1977 British Airtours Boeing 707 crash
BEA Airtours Boeing 707-400 Manteufel.jpg
The aircraft involved in the accident, shown here at Berlin-Tegel Airport in 1973.
Accident
Date17 March 1977 (1977-03-17)
SummaryLoss of control during a training takeoff with simulated engine failure
Site Glasgow Prestwick Airport, Scotland, United Kingdom
55°30′58″N4°36′47″W / 55.516°N 4.613°W / 55.516; -4.613 Coordinates: 55°30′58″N4°36′47″W / 55.516°N 4.613°W / 55.516; -4.613
Aircraft
Aircraft type Boeing 707-436
Operator British Airtours
Registration G-APFK
Flight originGlasgow Prestwick Airport,
Scotland, United Kingdom
DestinationGlasgow Prestwick Airport,
Scotland, United Kingdom
Crew4
Fatalities0
Injuries1
Survivors4

On 17 March 1977 a British Airtours Boeing 707 being used for pilot training crashed and caught fire during its take-off roll at Glasgow Prestwick Airport. All four crew members on board survived.

Contents

Aircraft

The aircraft was a Boeing 707-436, registered as G-APFK, and first flew in 1960. [1] Its construction number was 17712 [2] and its four engines were Rolls-Royce Conway 508 turbines. The aircraft entered service with BOAC on 29 September 1960, transferred to BEA Airtours on 30 December 1971 and finally British Airtours on 1 April 1974. [3]

Flight

On board were: a 29-year-old first officer trainee; a 48-year-old flight commander; a captain trainee who was acting as flight engineer; and a supervisory first officer seated behind the commander. After the standard pushback and engine starting procedures, the commander relayed the crosswind information from the control tower to the trainee first officer, who was in control for the take-off. The wind forecast was 18 knots, increasing to 35 knots. [4] No flight number was assigned to the training session.

Accident

After receiving take-off clearance from the tower, the crew taxied the aircraft to runway 31 for departure. The trainee first officer commenced the take-off run by applying full power to the engines. As the crew rotated the aircraft from VR speed (125 knots (232 km/h; 144 mph)), the flight commander pulled back engine No.1's thrust lever, saying “Engine number one’s failed.”, which was followed by, “I have it.” The crew applied left rudder trim and the aircraft climbed to 20–30 feet (6–9 m). The aircraft suddenly began to descend and the left wing dropped 20 degrees. The engine simulated as failing struck the left edge of runway 31. The aircraft then yawed and rolled to the right, and engine No.4 struck the ground. The aircraft slid sideways down the runway, tearing off all four engines and collapsing the landing gear while bursting into flames. It came to rest at the intersection with runway 3. During evacuation one crewman was injured. [5]

Investigation

The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) began an investigation the day after the accident. According to the flight data and cockpit recorders, an engine failure would be simulated as an exercise for the two trainees to quickly demonstrate procedures for restarting or shutting down the failed engine. The AAIB determined the pilots did not deal with the failure as quickly as recommended. Usually, a pilot must deal with failed engine in 1 1/2 seconds, but the trainee first officer took 2–3 seconds.

Probable cause

After investigating the crash for one year and four months, the AAIB published its final report in September 1978, stating the probable cause of the accident: "A loss of control which resulted from a delay in taking full corrective action during a simulated outboard engine failure exercise during take-off." [4]

Aftermath

G-APFK was damaged beyond repair in the accident and fire. It was written off in November 1978 and scrapped in 1979.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Air Algérie Flight 6289</span> 2003 deadly passenger plane crash in Tamanrasset, Algeria

Air Algérie Flight 6289 (AH6289) was an Algerian domestic passenger flight from Tamanrasset to the nation's capital of Algiers with a stopover in Ghardaïa, operated by Algerian national airliner Air Algérie. On 6 March 2003, the aircraft operating the flight, a Boeing 737-2T4, crashed near the Trans-Sahara Highway shortly after taking off from Tamanrasset's Aguenar – Hadj Bey Akhamok Airport, killing all but one of the 103 people on board. At the time of the accident, it was the deadliest aviation disaster in Algerian soil.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British Airtours Flight 28M</span> 1985 aircraft fire

British Airtours Flight 28M was an international passenger flight, which caught fire before takeoff at Manchester Airport, England, on 22 August 1985 with the loss of 55 lives. It was en route to Corfu International Airport in Greece.

British Airtours was a British charter airline with flight operations out of London Gatwick and Manchester Airports.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TWA Flight 159</span> 1967 aviation accident

Trans World Airlines (TWA) Flight 159 was a regularly scheduled passenger flight from New York City to Los Angeles, California, with a stopover in Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport, Kentucky, that crashed after an aborted takeoff from Cincinnati on 6 November 1967. The Boeing 707 attempted to abort takeoff when the copilot became concerned that the aircraft had collided with a disabled DC-9 on the runway. The aircraft overran the runway, struck an embankment and caught fire. One passenger died as a result of the accident.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British Airways Flight 38</span> Aviation incident at London Heathrow Airport on the 17th January 2008

British Airways Flight 38 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Beijing Capital International Airport in Beijing, China, to London Heathrow Airport in London, United Kingdom, an 8,100-kilometre trip. On 17 January 2008, the Boeing 777-200ER aircraft operating the flight crashed just short of the runway while landing at Heathrow. No fatalities occurred; of the 152 people on board, 47 sustained injuries, one serious. It was the first time in the aircraft type's history that a Boeing 777 was declared a hull loss, and subsequently written off.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BOAC Flight 712</span> Aviation accident – engine failure and fire on take-off, 8 April 1968

BOAC Flight 712 was a British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) service operated by a Boeing 707-465 from London Heathrow Airport bound for Sydney via Zurich and Singapore. On Monday 8 April 1968, it suffered an engine failure on takeoff that quickly led to a major fire; the engine detached from the aircraft in flight. After the aircraft had made a successful emergency landing, confusion over checklists and distractions from the presence of a check pilot contributed to the deaths of five of the 127 on board. The direct cause of the fire was the failure of a compressor wheel, due to metal fatigue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dan-Air Flight 0034</span> 1979 aviation accident

Dan-Air Flight 0034 was a fatal accident involving a Hawker Siddeley HS 748 series 1 turboprop aircraft operated by Dan-Air Services Limited on an oil industry charter flight from Sumburgh Airport, Shetland Islands, to Aberdeen Airport.

Air France has been in operation since 1933. Its aircraft have been involved in a number of major accidents and incidents. The deadliest accident of the airline occurred on June 1, 2009, when Air France Flight 447, an Airbus A330-203, flying from Rio de Janeiro to Paris crashed into the Atlantic Ocean with 228 fatalities. A selected list of the most noteworthy of these events is given below.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1954 Prestwick air disaster</span> Aviation incident that occurred on Christmas Day, 1954

The 1954 Prestwick air disaster occurred in the early morning of Christmas Day, 1954. A British Overseas Airways Corporation Boeing 377 Stratocruiser crashed on landing at Prestwick Airport, Scotland; 28 of the 36 on board were killed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Airlines Flight 514</span> 1959 aviation accident

American Airlines Flight 514 was a training flight from Idlewild International Airport, to the Grumman Aircraft Corp. airfield. On the afternoon of August 15, 1959, the Boeing 707 operating the flight crashed near the Calverton airport, killing all five crew members aboard. This was the first accident to involve a Boeing 707, which had only gone into service in October of the previous year, and the first of three accidents involving American's 707s in the New York area within three years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">British Overseas Airways Corporation</span> Defunct state-owned airline of the United Kingdom (1939—1974)

British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) was the British state-owned airline created in 1939 by the merger of Imperial Airways and British Airways Ltd. It continued operating overseas services throughout World War II. After the passing of the Civil Aviation Act 1946, European and South American services passed to two further state-owned airlines, British European Airways (BEA) and British South American Airways (BSAA). BOAC absorbed BSAA in 1949, but BEA continued to operate British domestic and European routes for the next quarter century. The Civil Aviation Act 1971 merged BOAC and BEA, effective 31 March 1974, forming today's British Airways.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pan Am Flight 799</span> 1968 airplane crash

Pan Am Flight 799 was an international cargo flight from Los Angeles International Airport to Cam Ranh Airport in South Vietnam that crashed on December 26, 1968, near Anchorage, Alaska. The aircraft involved was a Boeing 707-321C aircraft operated by Pan American World Airways. All three crew members died in the crash.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TWA Flight 5787</span> 1969 aviation accident

Trans World Airlines Flight 5787 was an unscheduled training flight of a Boeing 707 from Atlantic City Airport in Pomona, New Jersey in 1969. The flight was planned as a proficiency check, testing crew response to a simulated single-engine failure during takeoff and landing. Because of a fatigue failure of a hydraulic pipe, hydraulic power was lost while flying at low speed on three engines, resulting in loss of control and a crash killing all on board.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Air India Express Flight 1344</span> 2020 plane crash in Kozhikode, India

Air India Express Flight 1344 was a scheduled international flight on 7 August 2020 from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, to Kozhikode, India, landing at Calicut International Airport. The flight was part of the Vande Bharat Mission to repatriate Indian nationals stranded due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The flight crew aborted two landing attempts because of heavy rain and tailwind. On the third landing attempt, the aircraft touched down on runway 10, but skidded off the end of the tabletop runway and slid down a 9–10.5 m (30–35 ft) slope, killing 19 passengers and both pilots. The four cabin crew members and 165 passengers survived, of whom all but two were injured. This was the second fatal accident involving Air India Express, after the 2010 Mangalore crash.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trans-Air Service Flight 671</span> 1992 aviation accident in France

Trans-Air Service Flight 671 was a cargo flight from Luxembourg Airport to Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport in Kano, Nigeria. While flying over France on March 31, 1992, the Boeing 707 operating the flight experienced an in-flight separation of two engines on its right wing. Despite the damage to the aircraft, the pilots were able to perform an emergency landing at Istres-Le Tubé Air Base in Istres, France. All five occupants of the aircraft survived; however, the aircraft was damaged beyond repair due to a fire on the right wing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Omega Aerial Refueling Services Flight 70</span> 2011 aviation accident

Omega Aerial Refueling Services Flight 70 was a flight supposed to provide aerial refueling to US Navy F/A 18s. It crashed on take-off following an engine separation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delta Air Lines Flight 9877</span> 1967 aviation accident

Delta Air Lines Flight 9877 was a crew training flight operated on a Douglas DC-8. On March 30, 1967, it lost control and crashed into a residential area during a simulated engine-out approach to Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport.

References

  1. "Search the Peter Keating Collection of aviation photographs : A Flying History". aflyinghistory.com. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  2. Friend, Barry. "Boeing 707-436, G-APFK / 17712, British Airtours (KT / BKT)" . Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  3. "Registration Details For G-APFK (BEA Airtours) 707-436 - PlaneLogger". www.planelogger.com. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
  4. 1 2 Ranter, Harro. "ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 707-436 G-APFK Glasgow-Prestwick Airport (PIK)". aviation-safety.net. Retrieved 29 December 2017.
  5. "Boeing 707-436 G-APFK, Prestwick Airport, Ayrshire | Air Crash Sites-Scotland". aircrashsites-scotland.co.uk. Archived from the original on 16 November 2016. Retrieved 29 December 2017.