Swissair aircraft accident in the English Channel
| Swissair aircraft accident in the English Channel | |
|---|---|
 The accident machine six days earlier |
|
| Accident summary | |
| Accident type | Ditching due to lack of fuel |
| place |
English Channel , at Folkestone , Kent , United Kingdom
|
| date | June 19, 1954 |
| Fatalities | 3 |
| Survivors | 6th |
| Injured | 6th |
| Aircraft | |
| Aircraft type |
 Convair CV-240-4
|
| operator |
 Swissair
|
| Mark |
HB-IRW
|
| Surname | Ticino |
| Departure airport |
Geneva Airport , Switzerland
|
| Destination airport |
London Heathrow Airport , UK
|
| Passengers | 5 |
| crew | 4th |
| Lists of aviation accidents | |
The air accident of Swissair in the English Channel took place at an international scheduled flight of Swissair from Geneva to London Heathrow on 19 June 1954. On this day it came over the English Channel to lack of fuel on board a Convair CV-240-4 (HB-IRW) which then had to be ditched at Folkestone . Three British passengers drowned during the evacuation.
plane
The machine concerned was a Convair CV-240-4 built in 1948 with the serial number 61 . It was on 9 December 1948 with the air vehicle registration PH-TEA to the KLM shipped and received the Christian name Adriaan van Ostade . On November 28, 1953, Swissair bought the aircraft from KLM for a purchase price of CHF 2,270,000, and approved it with the new aircraft registration HB-IRW and the name Ticino . The twin-engine short-range aircraft was equipped with two radial engines of the type Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp equipped.
Passengers and crew
The flight from Geneva to London Heathrow had taken five passengers, all of whom were British. A ten-year-old boy was among the passengers. The crew of the machine consisted of a flight captain, a first officer, a flight attendant and a flight attendant. All crew members were Swiss citizens.
the accident
On June 17, 1954, the plane was to be used on an international scheduled flight from Geneva Airport to London Heathrow Airport. The machine had previously been used on the London – Geneva route.
While crossing the English Channel at an altitude of 12,000 feet, the pilots noticed that the fuel gauge showed only a small amount of fuel. The port-side engine then failed and the propeller was brought into the sail position. The pilots believed there was a leak in the tank and began the descent. Shortly afterwards the second engine also failed. In order to maintain the power supply and so on to be able to send emergency signals, the captain left this engine in windmill mode, which, however, significantly shortened the glide path due to the increased resistance. The captain informed air traffic control of the position of the aircraft and asked to be allowed to change course in order to approach the closer RAF Manston . It was no longer possible to reach the British coast, so the pilots launched a ditching around 11 p.m. local time in the English Channel, 2.4 kilometers from Folkestone , which they succeeded.
Rescue operation
After ditching, the machine floated in the water for 15 minutes before it went down. There were no life jackets on board the machine, as they were not required when flying over water sections with less than 30 minutes of flight time. Three passengers who could not swim drowned while the rest stayed afloat 45 minutes after ditching until they were rescued.
A crane operator in Folkestone harbor heard the accident. He reported it to the berth master immediately. Four British Railways employees rowed a boat to the scene of the accident, which they reached in about 30 minutes. Five survivors were picked up from the boat and handed over to the fishing boat MV Southern Queen , which had left in support of the rescue operation. Lifeboats from Dover and Dungeness and helicopter from RAF Manston and the HMS Albion also searched for survivors. A sixth survivor was rescued by the Southern Queen and the other five were brought to her. The survivors were transported to the Royal Victoria Hospital in Folkestone.
root cause
It turned out that prior to take-off in Geneva, the pilots had neglected to go through the checklists for take-off, to observe the fuel displays and to check the fuel level with the measuring stick as prescribed. As a result, they did not know that the plane had not been refueled at all in Geneva and that it was insufficiently fueled for the flight to London.
Victim
Three passengers who could not swim drowned, including an elderly lady and a woman with a ten-year-old son.
| nationality | crew | Passengers | Killed | Injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
United Kingdom
|
- | 5 | 3 | 2 |
|
Switzerland
|
4th | - | - | 4th |
| total | 4th | 5 | 3 | 6th |
The body of one of the victims was found on June 27 in St. Margaret's Bay, Kent . Another victim's body was later washed up in the Netherlands. The body of the third victim remained missing.
consequences
At a public hearing in Ashford , Kent in August 1954, the pilots' flying performance during the ditching was rated positively, but they were accused of not having taken care of the care and rescue of the passengers after the ditching. After determining the cause of the accident, Swissair dismissed both pilots who had already been on leave.
The accident resulted in organizational changes, tougher regulations and improved training for aircraft crews on the part of Swissair. The ICAO issued new rules according to which short-haul aircraft had to be equipped with life jackets. Entire aircraft crews had to complete regular ditching exercises. Since then, cabin crews have demonstrated the use of life jackets on flights over long stretches of water.
In Swiss vernacular, the incident led to the mocking observation that "HB", the aircraft registration number of all Swiss aircraft, stands for "Häsch gasoline?"
swell
- Accident report CV-240, HB-IRW , Aviation Safety Network
- Crash of a Convair CV-240-4 off Folkestone: 3 killed , B3A - Bureau of Aircraft Accident Archives
- Operational history and description of the incident
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h Juri Jacquemet: Swiss Civil Aviation 1945–2000: Fleet Policy and Networks Using the Example of Swissair , Inaugural Dissertation of the Philosophical-Historical Faculty of the University of Bern on Obtaining a Doctorate, pp. 148–149.
- ↑ a b Swiss Aircraft Crash Off Folkestone . The Times , June 28, 1954. page 6.
- ↑ Null Sprit , Der Spiegel , August 1, 1983, pp. 130-131, here: p. 131.
- ^ Channel Air Crash . The Times , June 29, 1954. page 7.
Coordinates: 51 ° 3 ′ 25 ″ N , 1 ° 12 ′ 25 ″ E