 Wreckage of the BEA Viscount amid damaged houses on Shadowmoss Road on 14 March 1957 | |
| Occurrence | |
|---|---|
| Date | 14 March 1957 (1957-03-14) |
| Summary | Loss of control caused by metal fatigue in flaps |
| Site | Wythenshawe, Manchester, England, United Kingdom |
| Total fatalities | 22 |
| Aircraft | |
 BEA Vickers Viscount G-ALWE, pictured at Manchester-Ringway Airport in 1953 | |
| Aircraft type | Vickers Viscount |
| Operator | British European Airways |
| Registration | G-ALWE |
| Flight origin | Schiphol International Airport, Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Destination | Manchester Airport, England |
| Passengers | 15 |
| Crew | 5 |
| Fatalities | 20 |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Ground casualties | |
| Ground fatalities | 2 |
British European Airways Flight 411 crashed on approach to Manchester Airport after a flight from Amsterdam Schiphol International Airport on 14 March 1957 and hit a house in Wythenshawe. All on board, 20 passengers and crew, died in the crash as did two people in the house. The aircraft involved was a Vickers Viscount registration G-ALWE operated by British European Airways. The cause of the crash was metal fatigue in flaps causing loss of control.
Aircraft
G-ALWE, RMA Discovery, was the first Viscount 701 type to be manufactured by Vickers in 1952.
Final flight
Flight 411 took off from Amsterdam Schiphol International Airport. On board were 15 passengers and five crew members. At approximately 1.40pm GMT, 90 minutes after departure, flight 411 was cleared for approach into Manchester Airport. In low cloud and following a ground controlled approach the flight crew lowered the landing gear and turned into their final approach under visual control. One mile short of the runway eyewitnesses saw the aircraft turn into a shallow right descending turn with a steep bank angle. At 1.46pm the Viscount's right wing hit the ground and the rest of the plane broke up bursting into flames. It crashed into a house 85 yards beyond the impact point at the junction of Shadowmoss Road and Ringway in Wythenshawe. All 20 passengers and crew on the aircraft died in the crash and two occupants of the house also died.
A surviving occupant of the house that was destroyed was a former airport fireman at Ringway Airport, Wally Wilding. In the year before the crash, Wilding had launched a petition expressing concerns about the dangers of low-flying aircraft in the area. His wife and infant son both lost their lives in the crash.
Emergency service response
Fire, police and ambulance services arrived at the site within minutes of the crash. The fire was put out rapidly but by this time all the casualties had already happened.
Investigation
The investigation into the crash of Flight 411 found that the probable cause of the crash was metal fatigue in the bottom bolt securing the starboard wing number 2 flap unit. The aileron locked when number 2 flap unit became detached from the wing trailing edge.
Aftermath
The investigation made several recommendations:-
- That reliance on a single bolt in tension for the support of a primary structure should be avoided if possible.
- That where such bolts are used an ample margin of strength should be allowed (having regard to the material of which the bolt is made) so as to ensure that fatigue will not develop at any time in the life of the bolt.
- That where such bolts are used the seating of the bolt and nut should be carefully checked.
References
Citations
- ^ Swettenham, Lee (14 March 2017). "The day a plane crashed into a Wythenshawe estate". Manchester Evening News. Archived from the original on 14 March 2017. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
- ^ Woodley, Charles (1 January 2006). The History of British European Airways. Casemate Publishers. p. 45. ISBN 978-1-84415-186-8. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
- Brown, Peter C. (15 February 2017). Manchester Airport Through Time. Amberley Publishing Limited. p. 33. ISBN 978-1-4456-6391-3. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
- "Viscount Hit ringway Homes: 24 Feared Dead". Manchester Evening News. 14 March 1957. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
- Dickens, Steven (15 November 2015). Manchester in the Headlines. Amberley Publishing Limited. p. 172. ISBN 978-1-4456-4803-3. Retrieved 28 February 2022. (text of original 1957 news report)
- Gero, David (29 May 2009). Aviation Disasters: The World's Major Civil Airliner Crashes Since 1950. History Press. pp. 38–39. ISBN 978-0-7524-9992-5. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
External links
- Tragic Plane Crash on YouTube (British Movietone News, 1957)
- "No.14. British European Airways Vickers Viscount G-ALWE (Accident Report)" (PDF). ICAO Circular (56–AN/51). International Civil Aviation Organization: 76. 1957. Archived (PDF) from the original on 28 February 2022. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
| Aviation accidents and incidents in 1957 (1957) | |
|---|---|
| Jan 6 American Airlines Flight 327Jan 31 Pacoima aircraft accidentFeb 1 Northeast Airlines Flight 823Mar 5 Sutton Wick air crashMar 14 British European Airways Flight 411Mar 17 Cebu Douglas C-47 crashApr 7 Begé VARIG Commando crashMay 1 Blackbushe Viking accidentJun 14 LOT Polish Airlines Flight 232Jul 8 Singapore airplane crashJul 16 KLM Flight 844Jul 25 Bursa airplane crashAug 11 Maritime Central Airways Flight 315Aug 17 Kiev mid-air collisionSep 15 Northeast Airlines Flight 285Oct 1 Aeroflot Flight 11Oct 23 Nutts Corner BEA Viscount crashNov 6 Downend crashNov 8 Pan Am Flight 7Nov 15 Aquila Airways Solent crashDec 8 Aerolíneas Argentinas Flight 670Dec 11 Philippine Air Lines DHC-3 Otter crashDec 18 Aeroflot Flight 10 | |
| 1956 ◄ ► 1958 |
53°21′59″N 2°15′12″W / 53.3664°N 2.2534°W / 53.3664; -2.2534
- Aviation accidents and incidents in 1957
- Aviation accidents and incidents in England
- Accidents and incidents involving the Vickers Viscount
- 1957 in the United Kingdom
- British European Airways accidents and incidents
- Aviation accidents and incidents at Manchester Airport
- March 1957 events in the United Kingdom
- 1957 disasters in the United Kingdom
- Airliner accidents and incidents in the United Kingdom
- Wythenshawe