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Aviation History
1961
1961 - 0070.PDF
68 FLIGHT, 13 January 1961 AIR COMMERCE. . . SAS are one of the few major non- US airlines whose colours have never adorned the Viscount—at least not until the Scandinavian airline char- tered two 48-seat 779s from Fred Olsen for domestic services FINLAND'S DAY OF MOURNING FLAGS in Finland were flown at half mast on January 3 follow-ing an accident to an aircraft of Aero O/Y (Finnair). It was the airline's first fatal accident since 1941 and the third since itsfoundation in 1923. There were no survivors. The accident occurred to a DC-3 on a flight between Kokkola and Vaasa whileattempting to make a forced landing near Vaasa. After circling low over a forest the aircraft crashed near the village of Maja andburst into flames, killing all 22 passengers and the crew of three. According to reports from Finland, radio contact with the DC-3,OH-LCC, was lost five minutes before the crash. Unconfirmed eye-witness reports say that the aircraft was burning when itattempted to land. HERALD FOR CHARTER THE offer of a 44-seat Handley Page Herald for a series ofcharters or for single flights was made in a recent advertise- ment in Travel Trade Gazette. The company concerned was TheConsolidated Netherlands Coach & Aircraft Charter NV of The Hague, Holland, and the advertisement raised a minor mysteryas to the Herald's ownership. The aircraft in fact is that for which an order has been placedby North-South Airlines of Yeadon Airport (Flight, November 25, page 832). Although the order for this aircraft has not yet beenannounced by Handley Page the airline say that it is quite firm and that they expect to take delivery in April. They add that theywere asked by The Consolidated Netherlands Coach & Aircraft Charter NV, one of their Continental agents, if the Herald couldbe offered for charter on the Continent. The Dutch company is a new one, with British and Dutch directors and is associated withtravel agencies in this country. Up to the end of last week no firm arrangements had been made for charter of the Herald but theoffer still remains open. CRISIS HEIGHT AT EMBAKASI "XJOW critical is critical height?" might be regarded as the•'•-* theme question of the four-day inquiry held in Nairobi last month into the accident to the South African Airways Boeing 707which made a wheels-up landing at Embakasi on October 30. It had previously touched the ground 9,200ft from the threshold butnone of the 78 passengers or crew of 13 was hurt. Describing the accident, one of the flight engineers said thathe saw the approach lights just before the impact. After that, "it looked as though No 3 engine was in trouble—oil pressure andtemperature were considerable. Hydraulic fluid was escaping but by the time I had pressed the shut-off button, the gauge wasempty." The runway at Embakasi is 5,327ft above sea level and the obstacle clearance height is 5,650ft. South African Airways' criticalheight is 600ft but Capt Bird, the co-pilot, said that he had uat received written instructions about this. "I feel," said Capt Bi-d,"that this is laid down as a general guide for crews and the pilots in general feel that if they stuck rigidly to this minimum atcertain times of the year, particularly here, the aircraft would seldom get in."The airline's senior captain, Capt J. Botes, stated that he and his pilots understood critical height to mean the height at which,without precision aids, they must decide whether or not to go lower if they had not seen the lights on the runway. After explain-ing this definition he was asked by the legal secretary to the High Commission, Mr C. D. Newbold, to whom he had written definingcritical height laid down for the Boeing, if he would try to explain how "South African Airways puts these words down and expectsit to mean something else." Capt Botes: "I can't explain it." Mr Newbold: "But would you agree that what you have laiddown is, in fact, not a minimum?—"It is broken very, very occa- sionally and only when the pilot thinks he can get down safely." Giving evidence, the pilot of the aircraft, Capt Rosslee, saidthat he agreed with the definition of critical height given by Capt Botes. He went down to the obstacle clearance height and to thebest of his knowledge maintained it. He could offer no explanation for the accident. A theory put forward by Capt Botes was that Capt Rosslee sub-consciously reverted to piston-engined techniques on the approach and opened the throttle to lift the nose. "I think he started hisrate of descent too fast and never fully recovered until he came below the cloud. What gives me this idea is that the co-pilotstarted calling out the height every 50ft instead of every 100ft. I think he was getting worried and was letting the captain know.In the jet you must definitely trim it out or use the elevator. Increasing power will not give the nose-up position. From all thisI must assume he did go below obstacle clearance height and didn't stop the machine completely from its rate of descent. In thestress of the moment he most probably went back to piston flying." The chairman and assessors of the inquiry, Mr Justice MacDuff,assisted by Capt I. R. Stephens, a senior BOAC captain, and Col R. H. Preller of the National Transport Commission of SouthAfrica, have reserved their findings. During the inquiry, Embakasi Airport was criticized for lacking ILS; it was subsequentlyannounced that preparation is being made for the installation of this landing aid. The damaged aircraft is not now to be returned to Seattle forfinal repairs, which will be completed at Nairobi. It will, however, go back to Boeing next year, along with the second aircraft, forinstallation of full-length leading edge flaps. The third aircraft, which is soon to be delivered to Johannesburg, is already thusequipped. Opened by the Minister of Aviation, Mr Peter Thorneycroft, last Monday, January 9, is the Ariel, the second airport hotel for London to be opened within twelve months. Behind the omni-directional frontage are 186 bedrooms with accommodation for 300 guests. The hotel is air-conditioned, and the rooms are silenced with double windows. Circular corridors (right) are lined with beech wood
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