British European Airways Flight 706

Vickers Vanguard G -APEC at the airport London Heathrow

On the BEA Flight 706 crashed on October 2, 1971, the Vickers Vanguard from the registration G -APEC over Belgium. All 63 people on board were killed. Cause of the crash of the twelve -year-old machine was caused by corrosion damage to the rear pressure bulkhead.

Course

The four-engined, of captain E.T. Probert controlled propeller plane took off at 09:34 clock ( UTC) from runway 28L at London Heathrow in the direction of Salzburg. At 10:04 clock, the aircraft was in cruise flight over Belgium and passed the VOR -VOR Wulpen. Almost five minutes later, the Tower of Brussels airport received the message: " Mayday, Mayday, Mayday - We fall vertically from " and " ... out of control". In this emergency, two voices can be heard simultaneously. Air traffic controllers heard on radio swelling of the four Rolls -Royce turboprops. According to eyewitnesses, the rotating around its own axis machine coincided with the nose forward like a stone from the sky and tore a six -meter-deep crater in the ground. The more than 11 tons of kerosene caused a conflagration. All 63 people on board were killed. Among them were the Austrian legal philosopher René Marcic and his wife. The passenger of a passing car at the crash site was injured by a flying debris part.

Accident investigation

The crash was due to the demolition of both horizontal tail surfaces, which made the control of the G -APEC impossible. Both of the tail fin and the elevator attached to them were found at some distance from the crash site. The reason for the structural failure was a rust on the lower part of the rear pressure bulkhead of the cabin. During flight, the corroded point gave way, so that the pressurized cabin air suddenly flowed through a 48 cm hole in the tail area and whose shell deformed. As a result of the deformation and the internal damage to the horizontal stabilizer separated from the fuselage on both sides. The corrosion of the pressure bulkhead was probably caused by spilled liquids, which were from the adjacent on-board toilet. For an immediate review of all Vickers Vanguards of BEA similar signs of rust were observed in eight other machines. As a consequence of improved accessibility to this body region and increases the frequency of maintenance.