London – Tripoli – Kano

On May 26, 1952 at 08:45 AM, London – Tripoli – Kano experienced a crash involving Handley Page H.P.81 Hermes, operated by British Overseas Airways Corporation - BOAC, with the event recorded near Atar Adrar.

The flight was categorized as scheduled revenue flight and the reported phase was flight at a desert crash site.

18 people were known to be on board, 1 fatalities were recorded, 17 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 5.6%.

Crew on board: 8, crew fatalities: 1, passengers on board: 10, passenger fatalities: 0, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is human factor. The aircraft took off on a scheduled service from Tripoli to Kano with a crew of eight and ten passengers. The weather forecast indicated fine weather en route and thunderstorms in the Kano area. Due to faulty use of the variation setting control on the Gyrosyn compass and the inability of the crew to determine the aircraft's position properly by the standard methods, the aircraft, with practically no fuel and over the desert, made a wheels-up landing in a wide depression littered with shifting sand-dunes surrounded by rocky escarpments. The port wing was torn off and the remainder of the aircraft slewed left and came to a standstill without breaking up. No fire resulted and all passengers and crew were evacuated without difficulty. Six were slightly injured but the copilot died five days later as a result of exhaustion brought about by strain and heat.

Aircraft reference details include registration G-ALDN, MSN 81/15, year of manufacture 1950.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 20.5182°, -13.0544°.