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Aviation History
1953
1953 - 0594.PDF
588 FLIGHT, 8 May 1953 CIVIL AVIATION LOSS OF A COMET ' T^yiTH deep regret Flight records that a B.O.A.C. Comet ™ crashed near Calcutta on May 2nd with the loss of 43 lives. For nearly five years the Corporation's aircraft have flown without any accident involving loss of life among passengers; it is the more lamentabls that this fine safety-record has been marred by the loss of one of B.O.A.C.'s new Comets on the precise anniversary of their introduction to service last year. Comet G-ALYV, the aircraft concerned, was operating a scheduled service from London to Singapore. At 1059 hr G.M.T. on Saturday, carrying 37 passengers, including one infant, it took off from Dum Dum Airport, Calcutta, to fly the 820-mile stage to Delhi; six minutes later the Comet reported that it was climb- rig on track but no further messages were received. Ground and air searches were launched, and a B.O.A.C. York located wreckage near Jugalgari, a village some 25 miles north-west of Calcutta, early on Sunday morning. Reports say that parts of the aircraft were found over an area of eight square miles, suggesting dis integration before impact with the ground. It seems certain that the Comet was flying below 10,000ft when a sudden emergency occurred, giving the crew no opportunity to send any message. The most probable of unofficial theories advanced so far is trwt the aircraft encountered extreme turbulence, since there were known to be scattered thunderstorms on its route. Representatives of the M.C.A. and B.O.A.C. arrived at Cal cutta by Comet on Monday to assist the Indian authorities in their inquiry, and members of the de Havilland Aircraft Co. were due to arrive later. After a conference on Sunday Sir Miles Thomas announced that scheduled Comet services would con tinue. The aircraft was commanded by Capt. M. W. Haddon, one of B.O.A.C.'s original Comet captains. His crew consisted of ist/Off. R. G. W. Strange, R/Off. A. S. Woods, Eng/Off. A. L. Gilmore, Steward C. W. Irwin and Stewardess P. Rawlinson. Up to the time of the accident B.O.A.C.'s eight Comets had flown 9,450 hr and carried nearly 28,000 passengers on schedules services. The total flying time for all Comets is approximately 16,000 hr. NEW ATLANTIC FREIGHT RATES IT is generally agreed between the airlines concerned that only a considerable reduction of the present cargo rates will enable their ambitious transatlantic air freight plans to be fully realized. It has proved difficult, however, to evolve a new rate structure which is acceptable to all the airlines, since some carriers are obviously in a better position than others to offer reduced rates; P.A.W.A., K.L.M. and Sabena have on order DC-6A all-freight aircraft which should be capable of very efficient performance in terms of cost per ton mile. When the I.A.T.A. Commodity Rates Board met in New York in February to consider new trans atlantic rate structure, a Pan American executive stated that his company's attempts to introduce cuts of up to 45 per cent had been "blocked by some airlines which have not had experience with low rates for bulk shipments." He then threatened that P.A.W.A. would establish its own rates. It is believed, however, that the main dispute centred on the "break-points" rather than the actual rates and that the American airline was anxious to retain higher minimum weights per shipment than those proposed by some of its competitors. K.L.M., for example, agreed that lower rates were essential to the future prosperity of transatlantic air freighting, but were reluctant to think only in terms of bulk shipments as advocated by Pan American. The new rates for several routes, notably those between America and the United Kingdom, are still under discussion, and the complete rate structure may not be finally determined before the I.A.T.A. Traffic Conference meets in Honolulu next November. It was announced last week, however, that over 140 new reduced rates have been agreed for the carriage of various commodities between New York and several points in Europe, including Paris, Germany, Italy, Austria and Switzerland. K.L.M. was the first airline to announce application of these rates, which take effect from Sunday, May 10th. An idea of their effect is given by the following examples: the rate per kg for clothing carried between Dusseldorf and New York has been reduced from $1 38c to $1 8c and the minimum weight-level has gone down from 100 kg to 45 kg; the rate for cutlery carried between Germany and America has not been reduced, but traffic will be encouraged by a drop in the weight-level—from 100 kg to 45 kg; minimum levels for optical products between Nuremburg and New York have not been cut, but the rate per kg has gone down from $1 44c to $1 23c. THE AVRO "ATLANTIC" IT is safe to predict that one of the most closely examined exhibits at the Paris Aero Show (June 26th-July 5th) will be a 1/24th scale model, with transparent fuselage, of the civil ver sion of the Avro Vulcan jet bomber. The name "Atlantic" has been provisionally adopted for this project. INDIAN COMET ORDER CONFIRMED IT is officially announced by the de Havilland Aircraft Co. that Air-India International, Ltd., have decided to take up their option to buy two Series 3 Comets (not three, as previously fore cast) for delivery in 1957. The order is subject to conclusion of a contract now under negotiation. The Comets will be used initially on an "express luxury service" between India and the United Kingdom. HELICOPTER SYMPOSIUM AT San Juan, Puerto Rico, I.A.T.A. is at present conducting • its annual Technical Conference. The first part of the proceedings, a discussion on helicopter prospects by some 200 experts sent by operators, manufacturers and authorities, was completed on April 27th. Mr. J. T. Dyment, director of engineer ing for T.C.A., who acted as chairman, provided this summing up : "We now have a much clearer picture of what the helicopter will mean to us and the public, but just as important, we have found out what more we shall have to know . . . before we can use helicopters properly." The requirements, he said, include more powerful engines; better stability and handling for slow and hovering flight; new instruments, possibly including airborne radar for all-weather, round-the-clock operations; improved local weather forecasting, including forecasts of smoke conditions; more study of the economic aspects of potential routes which may largely determine actual helicopter specifications; and accelerated flight-testing on all new machines under simulated airline condi tions to help build up the necessary experience. An overall report of the discussion is expected to be available in the near future. LUSAKA, Northern Rho desia, is the terminal for a recently opened B.O.A.C. tourist service from Lon don via Rome, Cairo, Khartoum, Entebbe and Nairobi (where there is a night-stop). Hermes 56-seoters—one of which is shown here at Lusaka— complete the journey in 51 hours 15 minutes elapsed time.
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