Singapore – Beirut – Rome – London

On January 10, 1954 at 11:05 AM, Singapore – Beirut – Rome – London experienced a crash involving De Havilland DH.106 Comet, operated by British Overseas Airways Corporation - BOAC, with the event recorded near Elbe Island Tuscany.

The flight was categorized as scheduled revenue flight and the reported phase was flight at a lake, sea, ocean, river crash site.

35 people were known to be on board, 35 fatalities were recorded, 0 survivors were identified or estimated. This corresponds to an estimated fatality rate of 100.0%.

Crew on board: 6, crew fatalities: 6, passengers on board: 29, passenger fatalities: 29, other fatalities: 0.

The listed crash cause is technical failure. About twenty minutes after its takeoff from Rome-Ciampino Airport, while cruising at an altitude of 27,000 feet between the islands of Elbe and Montecristo, the airplane suffered a brutal decompression, disappeared from radar screens and crashed into the Tyrrhenian Sea. Some debris were found floating about 16 km south of Elbe Island and the main wreckage sank by a depth of 600 meters. All 35 occupants were killed. About 70% of the debris were recovered and the airplane was rebuilt in UK for investigations. As there were suspicions of technical issues, BOAC, Air France and SAA decided to suspend all Comet flights. After fifty modifications and improvements, the airplane started to fly again two months later. It was eventually discovered that the airplane suffered a structural failure and exploded in flight.

Aircraft reference details include registration G-ALYP, MSN 6003, year of manufacture 1951.

Geospatial coordinates for this crash are approximately 42.7902°, 10.3402°.