Hawker Siddeley HS 748
The Hawker Siddeley HS 748 is a medium-sized turboprop airliner originally designed by the British firm Avro in the late 1950s as a replacement for the now-aged DC-3s then in widespread service as feederliners. Avro concentrated on performance, notably for STOL operations, and found a dedicated market. 380 aircraft were built by Hawker Siddeley. A larger development, the BAe ATP, attempted to compete with the de Havilland Canada Dash 8 but saw a limited production run.
Development
The original 748 design started in 1958 after the infamous Duncan Sandys 1957 Defence White Paper ended most military manned aircraft development in the UK, and Avro decided to re-enter the civilian market.
The Vickers Viscount had the larger end of the short-haul market neatly wrapped up, so Avro decided to design to a smaller regional airliner powered by two Rolls-Royce Dart turboprop engines and intended to replace the many DC-3 Dakotas that were now reaching the end of their lifespan.
Avro was not the only company to see the potential for a DC-3 replacement, and by this point the Fokker F27 Friendship was well advanced. Avro therefore decided to compete by producing a design with better short-field performance, allowing it to operate from smaller airports and those with rough surfaces.
The first Avro 748 flew from the company's Woodford, Cheshire plant on 24 June 1960, and the two prototypes quickly proved the type's short field performance. 18 Avro 748 Series 1 aircraft were produced, the first for Skyways Coach-Air being delivered in April 1962. However, the majority of the series 1 were delivered to Aerolíneas Argentinas. By this point, Avro's individual identity within the Hawker Siddeley Group had ended and the design became known as the HS 748.
The 748 Series 1 and Series 2 was licence-produced in India by Hindustan Aeronautics as the HAL-748. HAL built 89 aircraft in India, 72 for the Indian Air Force and 17 for the Indian Airlines Corporation.
The ICAO designator as used in flight plans is A748.
Media appearance
The BAe (successor company to Hawker Siddeley) company demonstrator HS 748 appears in the first episode of the 1978 Yorkshire Television TV series The Sandbaggers, where it is used to drop agents into the Kola Peninsula.
Variants
- 748 Series 1 – Twin-engined short / medium-range airliner, powered by two Rolls-Royce Dart 514 turboprop engines.
- 748 Series 2 – The Series 2 entered production in 1961 with a higher take-off weight, and 198 were built, making it one of the most popular post-war British designs.
- 748 Series 2a – The more powerful Series 2A followed with another 71 built.
- 748 Series 2b – The main production model after Hawker-Siddeley was absorbed by British Aerospace, 25 built.
- Super 748 – Fitted with hush kits on the Rolls-Royce Dart engines
- Hawker Siddeley HS780 Andover – Fitted with kneeling undercarriage, raised tail unit and rear loading ramp
- Coastguarder – A maritime patrol version.
- 748 Andover – Military passenger transport versions of the 748.
- HAL 748 – Licence production by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited at Bangalore India. Indian aircraft were later modified for a variety of roles including a trials aircraft for an Airborne Early Warning version fitted with a large radome, known as the Airborne Surveillance Platform (ASP). A total of 89 HAL 748's were built.
- HAL 748 Series 2M – Production for the Indian Air Force (the last 20 built) were Series 2M aircraft with a Large Freight Door.
Accidents and incidents
There have been 21 notable accidents involving the 748:
- On 10 July 1965, Avro 748-101 Series 1 G-ARMV of Skyways Coach-Air was written off in a landing accident at Lympne Airport. All 51 people on board survived. This was the first accident that resulted in a write-off on an Avro 748 / HS748.
- On 4 February 1970, Aerolíneas Argentinas Flight 707, an Avro 748-105 crashed into the ground after the pilots lost control of the aircraft. The aircraft crashed at Loma Alta, Argentina and killed all 37 passengers and crew on board.
- 31 July 1979 at Sumburgh Airport in the Shetland Islands,Scotland; Flight 0034, a Hawker Siddeley 748 series 1 (registration G-BEKF) operating an oil industry support flight crashed. The aircraft failed to become airborne and crashed into the sea. The accident was due to the elevator gust-lock having become re-engaged, preventing the aircraft from rotating into a flying attitude. The aircraft was destroyed and 17 persons died of drowning
- 22 August 1979 – An aircraft mechanic (a former non-commissioned officer of the Colombian Air Force) stole a military HS 748 (FAC-1101) from a military hangar at the Eldorado International Airport in Bogotá, Colombia. According to the news, this person stole the plane with the intention of crashing it against his parents' house. After some minutes in the air, the plane ran out of fuel and crashed, killing the impromptu pilot and three more people on the ground.[1]
- On 19 August 1981, Indian Airlines Flight 557, operated by HAL 748 VT-DXF overshot the runway at Mangalore-Bajpe Airport in wet weather. The aircraft came to a halt just beyond the runway edge. While there were no fatalities the aircraft damaged beyond repair and was written off. One of the passengers on board was Veerappa Moily current Cabinet Minister for Law, Justice and Company Affairs in the Government of India.[2][3]
- 11 October 1983 – Air Illinois Flight 710 carrying 10 people plunged from the night in a thunderstorm between Pinckneyville and Tamaroa, IL. The flight originated at Chicago's Meig's Field and had stopped at Springfield, IL. A transcript revealed the left generator had failed after takeoff and the first officer had mistakenly isolated the right generator. Attempts to restore the right generator were unsuccessful. “The captain elected to continue to the destination rather than return to the nearby airport. The cloud bases were at 2000 feet MSL, but ATC could not provide an IFR below 3,000 feet just before crashing. ‘“The crew indicated a total loss of electrical power. The left generator drive shaft had sheared. The reason for the right generator not to reset was not determined.[4]
- 27 June 1987 – Philippine Airlines Flight 206 crashed onto a mountain after poor visibility hampered the pilot's attempt to land at Loakan Airport in Baguio City, Philippines. All 50 passengers and crew died in the crash.
- 28 April 1995 – A Sri Lanka Air Force HS 748 was hit by an SA-7 missile while on approach to Palaly/KKS/Jaffna.[5]
- 5 September 1999 - Necon Air Flight 128 from Pokhara to Kathmandu, an BAe 748-501 Super 2B (9N-AEG), collided with a communication tower of Nepal Telecommunication Corporation and crashed in a wooded area 25 km west of Kathmandu, while approaching Tribhuvan International Airport. All 10 passengers and 5 crew were killed.[9]
- 1 June 2002[6] – Former South African cricket captain Hansie Cronje's scheduled flight home from Bloemfontein to George had been grounded, so he hitched a ride as the only passenger on a cargo flight in an HS 748. Near George airport, the pilots lost visibility in cloud, and were unable to land, partly due to unserviceable navigational equipment. While circling, the plane crashed into the Outeniqua mountains northeast of the airport. Cronje, aged 32, and the two pilots were killed instantly. An inquest by South Africa's High Court reached the conclusion that "the death of the deceased Wessel Johannes (Hansie) Cronje was brought about by an act or omission prima facie amounting to an offence on the part of pilots."[7][8] However, with Cronje's involvement in match-fixing, theories that Cronje was murdered on the orders of a cricket betting syndicate have flourished since his death.[9]
Operators
Civil Operators
In January 2012 a total of 32 Avro 748 aircraft (all variants) remain in airline service, half of them in Canada. Current operators are:[10]
- Bangladesh
- Canada
- Democratic Republic of the Congo
- International Trans Air Business (1)
- Guinea
- Kenya
- Norway
- Fred. Olsens Flyselskap (1)
- South Africa
Former Civil Operators
- Brazil
- Varig (11) [one Avro 748 Series 2 prototype and 10 production aircraft]
- Canada
- Mexico
- Indonesia
- Sri Lanka
- United Kingdom
- Venezuela
Military operators
- Australia
- Belgium
- Benin
- Brazil
- Brunei
- Burkina Faso ( Upper Volta)
- Cameroon
- Colombia
- Ecuador
- India
- Madagascar
- Nepal
- South Korea
- Sri Lanka
- Tanzania
- Thailand
- United Kingdom
- Venezuela
- Zambia
Specifications (Super 748)
Data from Jane's Civil and Military Aircraft Upgrades, 1994–95[11]
General characteristics
- Crew: Three (two pilots + one passenger attendant)
- Capacity: 40–58 passengers
- Payload: 11,323 lb (5,136 kg)
- Length: 67 ft 0 in (20.42 m)
- Wingspan: 102 ft 5½ in (31.23 m)
- Height: 24 ft 10 in (7.57 m)
- Wing area: 829 ft² (77 m²)
- Empty weight: 27,126 lb (12,327 kg)
- Max takeoff weight: 46,500 lb (21,092 kg)
- Powerplant: 2 × Rolls-Royce Dart RDa.7 Mk 536-2 turboprop, 2,280 ehp (1,700 kW) each
Performance
Survivors
See also
- Related development
- Aircraft of comparable role, configuration and era
References
External links
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