Phnom Penh - Vientiane

Royal Air Force - RAF

Douglas C-47 Skytrain (DC-3)

Enroute, both engines failed simultaneously, forcing the crew to reduce his altitude and to attempt an emergency landing. The aircraft belly landed in a field located 48 km north of Phnom Penh, skidded for several yards and eventually came to rest in flames. There were no casualties but the aircraft was destroyed by fire.

Vickers-Armstrongs Ltd

Vickers Viscount

Aigle Azur

De Havilland DH.89 Dragon Rapide

During start up, the left engine caught fire. All five occupants were able to evacuate the cabin before the aircraft would be totally destroyed by fire.

Trans Australia Airlines - TAA

Vickers Viscount

The crew (pilots and engineers) were engaged in a local training flight at Mangalore Airport, Victoria. During the takeoff roll on runway 22, after it reached V1 speed, the instructor shut down the engine number four and feathered its propeller to simulate an engine failure. The pilot-in-command continued the takeoff procedure. Shortly after rotation, the aircraft turned to the right and reached the height of 100 feet when it stalled and crashed in flames in a field located less than one km west of the airfield. Five crew members were injured (three of them seriously) while three pilots were killed. The aircraft was destroyed. The takeoff from which the accident resulted was being attempted in the most critical three-engine configuration, i.e. with number 4 engine (starboard outer) inoperative. In this configuration, with flaps extended 20° and the three engines on full power, a minimum speed of 96 knots is necessary in order to ensure that, using both rudder and aileron, a constant heading can be maintained. When flying under these conditions at speeds below 96 knots it is not possible to keep the aircraft from turning. The takeoff safety speed for the conditions existing at the time of this accident is given in the flight manual for Viscount VH-TVA as 106 knots and it has been the practice of Trans- Australia Airlines to teach its pilots not to lift the aircraft off the ground at speeds below 110 knots in a three-engine takeoff. It has been calculated that with normal acceleration in a three-engine take-off the speed of the aircraft when it left the runway would have been 85 to 90 knots which was too low.

British European Airways - BEA

Vickers Viscount

The aircraft took off from London Airport at 0755LT on a training flight, which was part of a routine base check being carried out by a training captain on a line captain. Having completed the first part of the check the aircraft landed at Blackbushe. At approximately 0850LT a takeoff was commenced from this airport for another exercise. On reaching the takeoff safety speed the training captain simulated a starboard outer engine failure. At this point the aircraft was just leaving the ground and as it did so the starboard inner propeller was seen to be stopping and the aircraft began turning to the right with an increasing amount of bank. It rose to about 30 feet and then descended and hit the ground at a point 250 yards from the runway in a steeply banked, nose-down attitude. It cartwheeled, slid along the ground backwards for 200 yards and came to rest just inside the northwest boundary of the aerodrome. The aircraft sustained major impact damage and fire broke out which almost completely destroyed it. The five occupants escaped with only slight injuries.

Capital Airlines

Vickers Viscount

Capital Airlines flight 141 of February 20, 1956, originated at Willow Run Airport, Detroit, Michigan, and was a regularly scheduled flight to Chicago. The crew consisted of Captain Roger Harrison Taylor, First Officer George Richard Hanst and Stewardesses Jacqueline V. Sadowski and Gloria Galloway. Captain R. E. Gilliland, the fifth assigned crew member, was deadheading to Chicago and rode in the passenger cabin. Following a weather briefing, which included a review of en route and terminal weather forecasts, a VFR flight plan was filed. Departure from Detroit was at 0700. The gross takeoff weight of the air- craft was 54,701 pounds, which was below the specified limit; the load was distributed properly with respect to the center of gravity of the aircraft. The flight to the vicinity of Chicago was routine. Near Chicago Flight 141 reported to the Chicago tower that it was over the shoreline. The flight later reported passing Kedzie and was cleared to land on runway 31R. The flight was observed to make a right turn to final approach and appeared to descend in a normal manner until over the west side of Cicero Avenue (the eastern boundary of the airport) at an altitude of 25 to 50 feet above the ground. At this point the airplane appeared to decelerate and descend rapidly. The aircraft was further observed to strike the ground in a slightly nose-up attitude several hundred feet short of the threshold of threshold of the runway, and the top of the fuselage was seen to break open adjacent to the wing spar to fuselage attachment. As the aircraft proceeded down the runway the landing gear retracted and the aircraft then slid on its belly until it came to rest to the left of the runway, 1,626 feet beyond the point of initial impact. All occupants left the aircraft through emergency exits or the main cabin door. The fire department, having been called by tower personnel, arrived at the scene before all persons had evacuated the aircraft. However, there was no fire. The Chicago weather at 0720 was reported as: Sky clear, visibility 6 miles; smoke; wind north-northwest.