Airspeed Ambassador G-AMAD in 1965 |
|
| Accident summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | 3 July 1968 |
| Type | Mechanical failure caused by metal fatigue |
| Site | London Heathrow Airport, United Kingdom |
| Passengers | 0 |
| Crew | 8 |
| Fatalities | 6 |
| Survivors | 2 |
| Aircraft type | Airspeed Ambassador |
| Operator | BKS Air Transport |
| Tail number | G-AMAD |
On 3 July 1968 an Airspeed Ambassador of BKS Air Transport, registration G-AMAD, crashed at London Heathrow Airport, damaging two parked Trident airliners as it cartwheeled into the uncompleted London Heathrow Terminal 1, then under construction. Six of the eight crew were killed along with eight horses.[1]
Contents |
The Ambassador, c/n 5211[2], was on a flight from Deauville, France to Heathrow Airport, transporting eight racehorses belonging to businessman William Hill. As the plane was landing on Heathrow's runway 28R the left wing dropped, and the wing tip and left landing gear touched the grass adjacent to the runway. The crew tried to increase power to go-around and climb away, but the bank angle increased. The aircraft hit two parked, and empty, British European Airways Hawker Siddeley Trident 1s, knocking the tail fin off G-ARPI and slicing off the entire tail section of G-ARPT. The Ambassador burst into flames and came to rest upside down against the ground floor of the terminal building.[3]
Six on board the Ambassador died, including the flight crew and three grooms, along with all eight horses. All other Ambassadors were grounded pending the result of an inquiry.[3]
The left (port) flap operating rod had failed due to metal fatigue, causing the port flaps to retract, resulting in the roll to port. After the accident all Ambassadors were fitted with steel reinforcements to the flap operating rods.[1]
G-ARPT was damaged beyond economic repair. G-ARPI was subsequently repaired but later destroyed in the Staines air disaster on 18 June 1972.[2]
|
||||||||||||