Cone of Silence (1960 film)

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Cone of Silence
Directed by	Charles Frend
Produced by	Aubrey Baring
Written by	Robert Westerby
Starring	Bernard Lee Michael Craig Peter Cushing
Cinematography	Arthur Grant
Editing by	Max Benedict
Release date(s)	May 10, 1960
Running time	88 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

Cone of Silence is a 1960 film about the investigation into a series of crashes involving the fictional "Atlas Aviation Phoenix" jetliner. It is loosely based on the history of the De Havilland Comet.

1 Synopsis
2 Representation of the "Phoenix" in the film
3 Main cast
4 External links

[edit] Synopsis

Captain George Gort, a pilot for British Empire Airways, is found to be at fault after crashing his Phoenix 1 jetliner, killing his co-pilot, on takeoff from Ranjibad airport in Pakistan. He is accused of rotating too early, increasing drag to such an extent that the aircraft cannot achieve flying speed. (This error would be less serious on a piston-engined aircraft than on a jet, due to the propwash).

Gort is reprimanded but is allowed to return to flying the Phoenix after a check flight under Captain Hugh Dallas. Meanwhile, Gort's daughter Charlotte refuses to believe he is at fault.

Gort's flying skills are again called into question when an approach to Calcutta is apparently made dangerously low, causing the aircraft to hit a hedge just before the runway threshold. It is later discovered that there was no hedge at the threshold of the Calcutta runway, and that the piece of hedge wrapped round the undercarriage leg had actually come from Ranjibad, where the aircraft had been taken off by Captain Clive Judd - this shows that Gort is not the only pilot to have problems taking off.

Gort is later involved in a second crash, this time killing all on board. The crash is remarkably similar to the first - both involve a fully-loaded aircraft on a hot night, taking off under Captain Gort from the same runway at Ranjibad airport.

Dallas eventually discovers that the plane's designer had deliberately withheld information on potential take-off difficulties in hot conditions. A third crash is avoided by seconds when a crew about to take off are contacted by Air Traffic Control, and told to add eight knots to all unstick speed and keep the nosewheel on the ground until just before unstick speed is reached.

[edit] Representation of the "Phoenix" in the film

The "Phoenix" is represented as the Avro Ashton WB493, then in use as a testbed by the engine manufacturer Bristol Siddeley (now part of Rolls-Royce plc). This aircraft included two Olympus turbojet engines in addition to the four Nenes.