British Eagle Flight 802 (1964)
| British Eagle Flight 802 (1964) | |
|---|---|
.jpg) An identical Bristol Britannia of the Society |
|
| Accident summary | |
| Accident type | Controlled flight into terrain |
| place | Glungezer , Austria |
| date | February 29, 1964 |
| Fatalities | 83 |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Bristol Britannia |
| operator | British Eagle International Airlines |
| Mark | G-AOVO |
| Surname | Bonaventure |
| Passengers | 75 |
| crew | 8th |
| Lists of aviation accidents | |
British Eagle Flight 802 was a scheduled flight from London Heathrow to Innsbruck Kranebitten , on which a Bristol Britannia flew into the Glungezer just below the summit on February 29, 1964 and crashed, killing all 83 people on board. To date (2019) it is [out of date] the most serious aircraft accident in Austria.
course
The Bristol Britannia 175 Series 312 with the air vehicle registration G-aovo the British Eagle started at 12:04 pm local time in London Heathrow with 75 passengers and eight crew members on board. As far as Kempten (Allgäu) , the flight was based on instrument flight rules (IFR). There the pilots changed their flight plan so that the approach to Innsbruck was carried out in visual flight (VFR). The last contact with Innsbruck air traffic control took place at 3:12 p.m. local time. At that time the machine was at an altitude of 10,000 feet (3,050 m). Until then, it had not been possible to break through the cloud cover.
There were no witnesses to the accident, mainly because of the poor visibility. The exact location of the crash was initially unknown; The wreck was not found until the morning of the next day, at about the same time by the personnel of the Glungezer hut and from the air by a DC-4 of the American Air Force.
The crash site is 2600 m above sea level, a few meters below the summit of Glungezer. There was no fire, but the impact triggered an avalanche that tore large parts of the wreck several hundred meters into the depth. The rescue of the victims was difficult because of the great danger of avalanches and was done with helicopters.
Cause of accident
The accident report named a pilot error as the main cause of the accident. The pilots had fallen below the safe minimum flight altitude applicable under the given weather conditions . This was due to the fact that, despite the weather conditions, planes took off and landed in Innsbruck, which urged the pilots of the unfortunate flight to attempt a landing approach despite the poor visibility.
Victim
Except for one Austrian, the fatalities were British citizens. Most of them were tourists who wanted to go to Innsbruck for winter sports. The Winter Olympics , which had been held a few weeks earlier, had contributed greatly to Innsbruck's popularity as a winter sports destination.
literature
- Flight disaster near Innsbruck - lost with 83 occupants . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna March 1, 1964, p. 1 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
- The pilot turned too deep. Three English families exterminated . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna March 3, 1964, p. 1 ( berufer-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
- Helmut Kreuzer: Crash - The fatal accidents with passenger aircraft in Germany, Austria and Switzerland (since 1950) . 1st edition. Air Gallery Edition, Erding, 2002, ISBN 3-9805934-3-6
Web links
- British Eagle Flight Accident 802/6 Description (English)
- Aircraft accident data and report in the Aviation Safety Network (English)
- Facebook group "Bristol Britannia G-AOVO"
Individual evidence
- ↑ salvage the dead in avalanche danger . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna March 3, 1964, p. 5 ( Arbeiter-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).
- ↑ ICAO Aircraft Accident Digest No.16, Circular 82-AN / 69 (65-75)
- ^ Gero, David (1996): Aviation Disasters Second Edition. Patrick Stephens Limited. p. 59.
- ↑ Homesickness drove Rotraut to death . In: Arbeiter-Zeitung . Vienna March 3, 1964, p. 5 ( Arbeiter-zeitung.at - the open online archive - digitized).