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By: - 12th March 2010 at 14:37 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
£50 and payed £100 in court costs
Even in those days money value, that can't have been much.
By: - 12th March 2010 at 14:44 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
That's indeed an amount that you don't think is very impressive... Only i don't think it's fair to call it the Worlds worst air crash pagen01... although an crash is the worst that can happen... I don't want to be rude... but in my honest opinion the Tenerife air disaster was the worst...
Regards,
TG1984
By: - 12th March 2010 at 14:49 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Topgun.
He said it was the world's worst air crash at the time it happened.
Regards,
kev35
By: - 12th March 2010 at 14:55 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
The Avro Tudor doesn’t seem to have been a very ‘lucky’ aircraft. It’s not really my area of interest but even I can think of two others that were lost without trace over the sea, plus wasn’t Roy Chadwick killed in the crash of one of the prototypes (due to reversed ailerons)? All this and how many built; few I think?
By: - 12th March 2010 at 17:03 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Thanks for the reminder Pagen01, a sad day and still well remembered locally.
By: - 12th March 2010 at 20:46 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
A press photo showing the aftermath after the crash, a sad affair indeed.
By: - 12th March 2010 at 22:22 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
The Avro Tudor doesn’t seem to have been a very ‘lucky’ aircraft.
That is a good way of putting it. The aircraft itself was a failure in its designed role as a post-war airliner for the top national airlines, but I think that was down to pressurization and performance issues,having major componants based on bombers didn't help, especially when compared to the American DC series and Constellation airliners. It then found favour with the second-line operators. Apart from the very high profile and unexplained disappearances of BSAAs Star Aeriel and Star Tiger, it seems the accidents were down to operators errors, including the crash of the Tudor II that killed Chadwick, and the awful loss of the subject of this post.
It might have been a bit of a lost cause as an airliner, but I think it may have gained a public reputation that it didn't quite deserve, in a similar way that the Comet did
By: - 12th March 2010 at 23:51 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
any crash is a tragedy, this one no less so,
but "worlds worst" is as stated a bit of a misleading statement.
Yes it may have been the worst in terms of single event loss at the time, I am not sure, one could say there were many many days during the war which there were losses far greater,
and if we want to mention dates, the crash of the Wright Military flyer on Sept 17, 1908, killing Lt Thomas Selfridge, and injuring Orville Wright, was the first "worlds worst"
Where do we stop with such a definition?
Tenerife is still the greatest loss of life in a single air crash event.
lets hope it is never eclipsed.I think any crash which is affects you personally is the "worst"
Couldn't put it any differently myself. Personally, the crash that affected me the most was JAL 123 (explosive decom. lost tail, hydraulic systems - crashed into mountain)
But there could be a crash where 2 people died, the relative to either one of the given people would probably class that as the worst one, but at least with every air disaster, lessons are learned, and safety increases more with each occurance, which thankfully are few and far between now.
By: - 12th March 2010 at 23:54 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Does that mean when Hammy hamster failed to pull out of his dive in my Airfix 1/24th Spitfire, that was the world’s worst air disaster...
...because that’s the only air disaster that’s affected me personally? :o
By: - 13th March 2010 at 11:24 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Years ago in my Air Traffic days an 'air disaster' was defined as 10 casulties or more, therefore creaking doors hamster crash wouldn't quite make it!:)
So any air accident involving less than 10 POB was classed (only) as a crash.
It's a numbers game, Pagens right, at the time this was the worst.
By: - 13th March 2010 at 12:26 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
This thread was started to remind us of a tragic accident 60 years ago. It has has degenerated into a slanging match. In my oppinion this shows a real lack of respect to those who died.
By: - 13th March 2010 at 16:28 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
I was not disrespecting or trying to offend anybody, I apologise..
By: - 13th March 2010 at 19:32 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
It is, perhaps, poignant that Wales were playing Ireland today (Saturday 13th) in what has developed into the [I]Six Nations[I] rugby contest.
Roger Smith.
By: - 14th March 2010 at 02:01 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
I read an interesting book not too long ago on the discovery of the Star Aeriel. It gave quite a damning review of Don Bennett and the way he ran his airline. This included:
-blindly refusing to buy better aircraft if they were 'not British'
-all but accusing his crews of cowardice if they showed any sort of trepidation about a planned route, etc
-running the airline like Bomber Command (press on regardless)
refusing to accept that others did not have the amazing navigational abilities that he possessed, and therefore refusing to invest in navigation aids
-working crews for too long at a stretch.
It was quite an eye-opener, but as it's an area of aviation I haven't researched thoroughly, I can't comment on the veracity of the accusations.
Thank you for the post pagen01, as always a timely reminder.
By: - 14th March 2010 at 04:45 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
Hi
On wiki,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_accidents_and_incidents_involving_commercial_aircraft
records the cause of crash as
March 12- An Airflight Avro 689 Tudor V stalls and crashes after the rear cargo hold was overloaded, resulting in a center of gravity exceeding the aft limit; 80 out of the 83 people on board die.
tiz a sad day in my opinion, when any aircraft crashes, no matter how many are killed.
It's good that we remember all those lost, in whatever causes.
Hopefully we all learn from history.
cheers
Jerry
By: - 14th March 2010 at 07:27 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
My apologies to all, the book I referred to earlier was about the Lancastrian Star Dust.
"Star Dust Falling"
Jay Rayner
Published in 2003 by Black Swan.
By: - 14th March 2010 at 10:31 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
My apologies to all, the book I referred to earlier was about the Lancastrian Star Dust.
Have just been re-reading this book, it seems to be well written and researched, but some of the comments attributed to Bennett seem to be quite bizarre, including his comparing of BSAA losses to Pathfinders.
By: - 14th March 2010 at 11:15 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
As you say D1566, some of the comments attributed to Bennett in that book were very bizarre and many showed a shocking disregard for the facts. Don Bennett's son co-operated fully with Rayner at the time and was both very upset and very angry when he read the finished book and realised that Rayner had twisted everything he'd been told in order to show his father in a very bad light, something which the book clearly sets out to achieve from the start.
Please don't judge Don Bennett solely on the unfair criticism in Rayner's book. Most of the ex-BSAA people I've spoken to, who knew Bennett well, thought Rayner's book was a disgrace.
However, I digress. I'm very glad pagen01 started this thread in memory of those who died at Llandow sixty years ago. It was a terrible tragedy and one which shouldn't be forgotten.
By: - 15th March 2010 at 02:55 Permalink - Edited 1st January 1970 at 01:00
I agree, the author seemed to have it in for Bennett before he even got through his introduction. I just discovered another book on BSAA titled "Fly With The Stars", the precis of which seems to offer a lot more in-depth research, and the unsurprising discovery of political agendas behind the demise of BSAA.
I certainly wouldn't even begin to judge Bennett solely on the basis of Rayner's book, especially as it struck me as so damning very, very early in the piece. It was as I said, however, an interesting book and offered a remarkable insight (be it true or inaccurate) of a master airman.
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By: pagen01 - 12th March 2010 at 13:37
At 3.00pm on March the 12th, 1950, Avro Tudor V, 'Star Girl' of Fairflight limited was coming into land at Llandow, S.Wales when it suddenly pitched up and crashed just short of the runway.
78 passengers and 5 crew were aboard the flight which was returning from a Dublin, the aircraft had been chartered by rugby fans to watch a game against Ireland. G-AKBY came down in the small village of Sigingstone, luckily missing houses and coming to rest in a field short of Llandows 28 runway.
All the crew and 75 of the passengers tragically lost their lives in what was at time the worlds worst air disaster. Local emergency services were stretched to capacity in dealing with the aftermath and the large RAF hospital and mortuary at St Athan was heavily involved in the rescue and treatment work.
It was later ascertained that a loading at trim error had caused the steep climb and stall on landing.
What was a great day of celebration (Wales beating Ireland 6-3 in a crucial Triple Crown game), ended in utter tragedy for many in Wales.
Fairlight Ltd was blamed for moving seats around to fit in more passengers, and were eventually fined £50 and payed £100 in court costs.
A memorial to the lives lost, including players from the Abercarn and Llanharan rugby clubs, is sited by the village pond in Sigingstone.