South African Airways Flight 201
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| Summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | 8 April 1954 |
| Type | In-flight metal fatigue failure |
| Site | Mediterranean between Naples/Stromboli |
| Fatalities | 21 |
| Injuries | 0 |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | de Havilland Comet 1 |
| Operator | British Overseas Airways Corporation |
| Tail number | G-ALYY |
| Passengers | 14 |
| Crew | 7 |
| Survivors | 0 |
South African Airways Flight 201, a de Havilland Comet 1, took off at 18:32 GMT from Ciampino Airport in Rome, Italy en route to Cairo, Egypt, on the second stage of its flight from London to Johannesburg, South Africa. The flight crashed, killing all aboard at around 19:07 GMT on April 8, 1954. The flight was operated as a charter by British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) using the aircraft G-ALYY ("Yoke Yoke"), with a South African crew of seven, and carrying 14 passengers.
Contents |
[edit] Flight and disaster
Flying as SA201, Yoke Yoke took off from London for Rome at 13:00hrs GMT on Thursday April 7, 1954, on the first leg southwards to Johannesburg, arriving at Rome approximately 2 1/2 hours later, at 17:35hrs. On arrival at Rome engineers discovered some minor faults, including a faulty fuel-contents gauge, which delayed the aircraft's departure by some 25 hours, Yoke Yoke finally being ready to depart for Cairo on the evening of Thursday 8 April.
Commanded by Captain William Mostert, the aircraft took off for Cairo at 18:32hrs GMT and climbed rapidly towards its cruising height of 35,000 ft, the crew reporting over the Ostia Beacon at 18:37hrs, passing 7,000 ft. The weather was good but with an overcast sky.
Another report was made by the aircraft, first at 18:49hrs at Ponza, where it reported climbing through 11,600 ft and another at 18:57hrs when it reported passing abeam of Naples. At 19:07hrs, while still climbing, the aircraft contacted Cairo on the long range HF radio and reported an ETA of 21:02hrs GMT.
This was the last thing heard from Yoke Yoke, as sometime after, unseen, the aircraft disintegrated in the night sky at around 35,000 ft, killing everyone onboard.
After repeated attempts at re-gaining contact by both Cairo and Rome were made, it was realised that another Comet had been lost. Initial news of the accident was leaked to the press by a German radio station which had been monitoring the radio transmissions.
[edit] Search, recovery and investigation
As soon as it heard of the crash BOAC once again voluntarily grounded all its Comets. The Italian air-sea rescue services were notified, and searching began at dawn the next day, subsequently involving the Royal Navy carrier HMS Eagle and the destroyer Daring. Some time later in the day a report was received from a BEA Ambassador aircraft of a patch of oil some 70 miles east of Naples and bodies and wreckage in the water 30 miles south-east of Stromboli. The depth of the ocean at the crash site meant that a salvage mission was ruled out as impractical.
[edit] Metal fatigue
At the time of the accident the investigation into the crash of BOAC Flight 781 was still in progress, but suspicion of the cause of the loss of Yoke Peter had fallen on the possibility of an engine turbine failure and during the previous grounding of all Comets, modifications had since been made to the Comets, including Yoke Yoke, that seemed to eliminate this possibility.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Air Disasters by Stanley Stewart - Arrow Books (UK) 1986/89 - ISBN 0-09-956200-6
- 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 - Official Report - 1955 (1)
(1) Contains details relevant to both accidents.
