As World War II came to a close the British government realised that it was going to have to drastically change its air manufacturing industry to avoid becoming dependent on American aircraft companies. To address this issue the Brabazon Committee was formed in 1943 to investigate the future needs of the British Empire's civilian airliner market.
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As a direct result of the specifications spelled out by the Brabazon Committee the Vickers Viscount was created: this was a medium-range turboprop airliner first flown in 1948 by Vickers-Armstrongs, making it the first such aircraft to enter service in the world. It would go on to be one of the most successful of the first-generation postwar transports, with 445 being built.
Of that relatively large number of 445 aircraft there have been over 150 accidents and incidents, including 144 hull losses. An accident or incident can involve anything from slight damage to total write-off and crash with all people on board killed.
The first incident was on 27 August 1952 when G-AHRF, operated by the UK Ministry of Supply crashed at the Khartoum International Airport. [2] Eventually, with many newer aircraft designs available, the Viscount was phased out of operations by industrial nations but one remains airworthy (as of April 2010) in the undeveloped world, and another remains flyable in the United States.
In April 2003, 9Q-CGL of Trans Intair was damaged on landing at a gravel strip in the Congo. The pilots attempted to take off with damaged engines but as the aircraft was gaining altitude a second engine failed and the aircraft crashed into some trees becoming a total write-off. [3]
