Cyprus Airways Flight 284

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Cyprus Airways Flight 284
BEA Comet Groves.jpg
A de Havilland DH.106 Comet 4B similar to the crashed aircraft
Bombing
Date12 October 1967
SummaryTerrorist bombing
  • Possible attempted assassination [1]
Site Mediterranean Sea
Aircraft
Aircraft type de Havilland DH.106 Comet 4B
Operator Cyprus Airways operated by
British European Airways
Registration G-ARCO
Flight origin Ellinikon International Airport, Athens, Greece
Destination Nicosia International Airport, Nicosia, Cyprus
Passengers59
Crew7
Fatalities66
Survivors0

Cyprus Airways Flight 284 was a de Havilland Comet that exploded during a flight to Nicosia International Airport on 12 October 1967 after a bomb detonated in the cabin. The airliner crashed in the Mediterranean Sea and all 66 passengers and crew members on board were killed. [2]

Contents

Aircraft

The aircraft was a de Havilland DH.106 Comet 4B, registration G-ARCO, the 49th Comet 4 built. It had been owned and operated by British European Airways (BEA) since it was built in 1961. [2] [3]

Flight

BEA was a shareholder in Cyprus Airways, and the two airlines had an agreement for all of Cyprus Airways' jet services to be operated by BEA Comets. [4] The night before the crash, the aircraft departed from London Heathrow Airport to Ellinikon International Airport in Athens, Greece, arriving just after 3:00 a.m. local time (1:00 a.m. UTC) on 12 October. At about 4:30 a.m., the aircraft departed Athens on the regular Cyprus Airways flight to Nicosia with 59 passengers and a crew of seven on board. [5]

About 45 minutes into the flight, control of the aircraft was transferred from air traffic controllers (ATC) at Athens to their counterparts in Nicosia. The crew contacted Nicosia's controllers by radio, but when ATC replied, no response was received from the aircraft. [5]

As Flight 284 was flying toward Cyprus at approximately 29,000 feet (8,839 m), the aircraft exploded about 100 miles (161 km) southeast of the Greek island of Rhodes and about 22 miles (35 km) south of the Turkish coastal town of Demre. [5] [6]

The flight was scheduled to proceed to Cairo after stopping in Nicosia. Eight passengers were booked on a Middle East Airlines flight the next day.

Aftermath and investigation

Recovery of remains and wreckage

Within a day of the crash, 51 bodies were recovered from the sea. Contrary to initial reports, none were wearing life jackets. Some were wearing wristwatches that had stopped at 5:25. [7] [8] Investigators concluded that the aircraft had suffered some form of damage during the initial radio call to Nicosia ATC at about 5:15 a.m. and had disintegrated in flight about eight minutes later. [7] [8] They estimated the aircraft's wreckage to be scattered on the seabed over an area of about 35 square miles (91 km2) at a depth of 9,000–10,000 feet (2,743–3,048 m) below the surface. [6]

After a drop tank was recovered from the sea, investigators hypothesised that the aircraft crashed following a mid-air collision with a military aircraft. However, searchers also found a cushion from one of the Comet's passenger seats floating on the surface of the sea, which was found to contain evidence of a military-grade plastic explosive. [6] [9] The mid-air collision theory was discarded and no attempt was undertaken to retrieve any submerged wreckage. [10]

The seat cushion and other objects from the cabin were analysed by experts in forensic explosives at the UK's Royal Armament Research and Development Establishment, the first time that the institution performed such an analysis. [11]

The most common theory is that the explosion was a result of an attempted assassination of EOKA and at the time, Supreme head of the defense of Cyprus, General Georgios Grivas. [12] The British Home Office however has refused to declassify the findings of the investigation until 2067 which has in turn, increased peoples suspicions about the events of the bombing. [13] In 2023 however, Metropolitan Police admitted that there were lapses and flaws in their investigation and further stated that there were also political implications which could have harmed relations between Cyprus and the United Kingdom. [14]

See also

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References

Citations
  1. ↑ https://www.kathimerini.com.cy/gr/kypros/moiraia-ptisi-cy284-%E2%80%93-paradoxi-lathwn-apo-mitropolitiki-astynomia
  2. 1 2 Flight International, 5 September 1968, p.361
  3. ↑ de Havilland DH.106 Comet production list Archived 12 May 2010 at the Wayback Machine retrieved 24 June 2010.
  4. ↑ "Cyprus Airways Ltd." Flight International magazine 1966 World Airline Survey, 14 April 1966, p.611 (online archive version), retrieved 24 June 2010
  5. 1 2 3 Aviation Safety Network G-ARCO occurrence synopsis retrieved 24 June 2010.
  6. 1 2 3 "New Comet Clues", Flight International magazine, 16 November 1967, p.796 (online archive version), retrieved 24 June 2010
  7. 1 2 Flight International, 19 October 1967, p.636
  8. 1 2 Flight International, 19 October 1967, p.637
  9. ↑ "Sensor", Flight International magazine, 7 December 1967, p.929 (online archive version), retrieved 24 June 2010
  10. ↑ "No Salvage for Comet", Flight International magazine, 30 November 1967, p.897 (online archive version), retrieved 24 June 2010
  11. ↑ Higgs, Douglas Geoffrey (1982). "Explosives sabotage and its investigation in civil aircraft". Journal of Occupational Accidents. 3 (4). Elsevier Ltd.: 249–258. doi:10.1016/0376-6349(82)90002-5.
  12. ↑ "Μοιραία πτήση CY284 – Παραδοχή λαθών από Μητροπολιτική Αστυνομία". Kathimerini.com.cy (in Greek). Retrieved 8 February 2024.
  13. ↑ Hepworth, Simon (26 March 2021). Bealine Charlie Oscar: Flight CY284 - The Real Story Behind a Forgotten Atrocity. ISBN   9781911255741. ...though we will need to wait to find out until January 1st 2067.
  14. ↑ Kennedy, Poppy (18 November 2023). "'Missed opportunities' to investigate bombing which killed Thornaby mum". Teesside Live. Retrieved 8 February 2024.
Bibliography

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