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 An Avro York of Scottish Airlines similar that involved in the accident | |
| Accident | |
|---|---|
| Date | 18 February 1956 |
| Summary | Pilot error |
| Site | Near Żurrieq, Malta |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Avro York |
| Operator | Scottish Airlines |
| Registration | G-ANSY |
| Flight origin | Luqa Airport, Malta |
| Destination | London Stansted Airport, United Kingdom |
| Passengers | 45 |
| Crew | 5 |
| Fatalities | 50 |
| Survivors | 0 |
The Żurrieq Scottish Airlines crash was an air accident that happened on 18 February 1956. A Scottish Airlines Avro York crashed after takeoff from Luqa Airport in Malta on a trooping flight from the Suez Canal Zone to London Stansted Airport. The disaster killed all 50 passengers and crew on board the aircraft; all passengers except one (a British Army private) were Royal Air Force personnel.
Accident
The accident happened on 18 February 1956 when the Avro York, registration G-ANSY, took off from Luqa Airport, Malta at 12:21 UTC time on a flight to London Stansted Airport with 45 passengers and five crew aboard. Shortly after becoming airborne, the boost enrichment capsule in the carburetor of the number one engine failed, and the engine caught fire. The pilots failed to feather the propeller as the aircraft slowly climbed to 700–800 feet; they then made a left turn to return to the airport. Shortly after retracting the flaps, the aircraft went into a nose-up attitude at very low speed. This resulted in a stall, which caused the aircraft to enter an unrecoverable dive. It crashed into the ground near the town of Żurrieq killing all 50 passengers and crew on board.
Cause
The reported mechanical cause was failure of the number one engine. However, this was compounded by a loss of speed and consequent loss of control through pilot error.
Memorials
There is memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum, a British site of national remembrance at Alrewas, near Lichfield, Staffordshire. Another memorial is located at Il-Ġibjun Gardens in Żurrieq, Malta, close to the crash site.
References
- "50 Killed in Air Crash. Scots Among Victims". The Glasgow Herald. 20 February 1956. p. 8. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
- ^ "50 Killed In Malta Crash." Times 20 Feb. 1956: 6. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 20 Jan. 2016.
- Testa, Michael (18 February 2006). "Crash that killed 50". Times of Malta. Retrieved 24 July 2017.
- "Malta Plane Crash Memorial". militaryimages.net. 15 June 2018. Archived from the original on 26 May 2021.
- 35°49′22″N 14°28′04″E / 35.82278°N 14.46778°E / 35.82278; 14.46778
External links
| Aviation accidents and incidents in 1956 (1956) | |
|---|---|
| Feb 8 RAF multiple aircraft accidentFeb 18 Scottish Airlines Malta disasterFeb 20 Cairo DC-6 plane crashMar 10 US Air Force B-47 disappearanceApr 1 TWA Flight 400Apr 2 Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 2May 15 Convent CrashJun 20 Linea Aeropostal Venezolana Flight 253Jun 24 Kano Airport BOAC Argonaut crashJun 30 Grand Canyon mid-air collisionJul 9 Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 304Jul 13 United States Air Force Flight 441/13Jul 24 RAF Lakenheath B-47 crashSep 22 Eindhoven Lockheed T-33 crashOct 1 London Heathrow Avro Vulcan crashOct 10 Atlantic R6D-1 disappearanceOct 16 Pan Am Flight 6Nov 7 Braathens SAFE Flight 253Nov 24 ČSA Flight 548Nov 24 Linee Aeree Italiane Flight 451Nov 27 Linea Aeropostal Venezolana Flight 253Dec 9 Trans-Canada Air Lines Flight 810Dec 9 Anadyr Li-2 crash | |
| 1955 ◄ ► 1957 |
| Aviation accidents and incidents in Malta | |
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| Avro Lancaster aircraft family | |
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| Bombers | |
| Patrol | |
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