British European Airways Flight 548
| British European Airways Flight 548 | |
|---|---|
 Identical Trident 1C from BEA |
|
| Accident summary | |
| Accident type | Loss of control due to stall |
| place | near Staines , England , UK |
| date | June 18, 1972 |
| Fatalities | 118 |
| Survivors | 0 |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type | Hawker Siddeley Trident |
| operator | British European Airways |
| Mark | G-ARPI |
| Departure airport | London Heathrow Airport |
| Destination airport | Brussels-Zaventem Airport |
| Passengers | 112 |
| crew | 6th |
| Lists of aviation accidents | |
On June 18, 1972, a crashed Hawker Siddeley Trident of British European Airways on a flight from London to Brussels shortly after takeoff near Staines from. None of the 118 occupants survived what later became known as the Staines Air Disaster . It was up to the Lockerbie bombing the worst aviation accident in the United Kingdom .
crew
The crew consisted of the 51-year-old Captain Stanley Key, the 24-year-old second mate Simon Ticehurst and the 22-year-old other second mate Jeremy Keighley.
course
At 4:08 p.m. local time, the pilots of the Trident received take-off clearance and took off 48 seconds later. 74 seconds after the start of take-off, the aircraft flew a turn inclined by 20 ° to the undirected radio beacon (NDB) Epsom and received clearance to continue climbing.
Then the noise reduction measures began, for which the second officer reduced the thrust and installed the landing flaps (rear lift aids). The slats were retracted 114 seconds after take-off was given, at a speed of 300 km / h (162 kn ) and at a height of 540 m (1,772 ft ) . For this configuration , however, the airspeed was too low and there was a risk of stall.
Five seconds later, the automatic emergency “ stick pusher ” intervened , lowering the aircraft nose , deactivating the autopilot . The pilots, however, forced the aircraft back into a climb position (but managed the curve), whereupon the stick pusher was activated again; A third engagement of the stick pusher followed almost seamlessly. Immediately afterwards - 12 seconds after the first activation - it was deactivated manually by the crew. The strong pulling up of the nose, while the aircraft was already losing altitude and speed, finally led to a deep stall at an altitude of about 370 meters.
The aircraft hit the ground 22 seconds after the stick pusher was switched off.
One of the inmates was found alive but died shortly after arriving at the hospital .
| List of victims sorted by nationality | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| nationality | Passengers | crew | total |
 Thailand
|
1 | 0 | 1 |
 Nigeria
|
1 | 0 | 1 |
 United Kingdom
|
28 | 6th | 34 |
 United States
|
29 | 0 | 29 |
 Canada
|
3 | 0 | 3 |
 Belgium
|
29 | 0 | 29 |
 Ireland
|
12 | 0 | 12 |
 India
|
1 | 0 | 1 |
 Jamaica
|
2 | 0 | 2 |
 South Africa
|
4th | 0 | 4th |
| unknown | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Total | 112 | 6th | 118 |
Similar incidents
swell
- Accident report G-ARPI, Aviation Safety Network (English)
- Report of the British Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) of the accident (English)
- Newspaper article with photos of the accident site (English)
- Report the accident with list of names of the occupants (English)
Coordinates: 51 ° 26 ′ 21 ″ N , 0 ° 30 ′ 32 ″ W.