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Aviation History
1967
1967 - 2154.PDF
fLIGHT International, 9 November 1967 749 THE END OF BIATA? THE end of the British Independent Air Transport Association . and the end of a chapter in British air transport — now seems only a matter of time, following the resignation of Caledonian and, last week, Transglobe. The beginning of the end of BIATA came in October 1964, when British United Airways withdrew from the association in order, it said, to establish "an independent position with complete freedom of action to formulate policy." The remain- ing members rallied round under the leadership of Mr Harold Bamberg of Eagle and Mr J. E. D. Williams of Britannia. The "new BIATA" took on an able director, Mr Hugh Brilliant, and he did more than any other man to keep the trade body of Britain's independents alive. But in 1967 Mr Harold Bamberg of Eagle decided to quit, for basically the same reasons as BUA (see Flight for April 20, page 621). • BUA Quits BIATA In a surprise move that couid mean the : end of BIATA British United Airways announced "with regret" on: October 23 that it had decided to withdraw its membership. BUA want to establish "an independent position with complete freedom of action to formulate policy." From "Flight," October 29, 1964 Then Caledonian — whose chairman, Mr Adam Thomson, was president-elect of BIATA—withdrew last month. Cale- donian, which had just submitted its ambitious bid for North Atlantic services, apparently felt the need to stand with the "big boys", BUA and British Eagle, rather than to be associated with the smaller companies remaining in BIATA. Transglobe— though smaller than Caledonian and, indeed, than some others still in BIATA — followed suit. Last week, too, came news that two other members, BKS and Cambrian, are no longer in- dependents (see page 747). The remaining members, comprising Autair, Britannia, Channel, Invicta, Lloyd and Skyways, are now likely to feel that BIATA has lost its sense of purpose and will presumably wind up the association after the BIATA dinner on November 21. This dinner, which is always one of the annual British aviation events, is due to be attended by the president of the Board of Trade. Mr J. E. D. Williams, who is still president of BIATA despite his resignation from Britannia Airways, ds expected to be fairly outspoken about the future of the independent airlines. Controversy will now turn on Whether or not there should be—as some independents advocate—an association of British airlines including BOAC and BEA. Others feel that this would have no common interest or purpose. QANTAS ORDERS 747s AS expected Qantas Airways has ordered four Boeing 747s at a cost of about AS 123 million (£49 million) for delivery in late 1971 and taken options on two more for 1972 delivery. They will be laid out for about 50 first-class and 300 economy class passengers so as to leave an adequate payload margin (27 tons) for the cargo holds. Government approval of the purchase was announced in Canberra on November 2. They will be used initially on the Sydney-San Francisco, Sydney - Singapore- London and Australia-NZ Services. CARAVELLE 10.000FT TOO LOW initial and necessarily superficial evidence, it appears Aat no explosion or catastrophic failure occurred before the Iberia Caravelle 10R (EC-BDD) crashed near Haslemere on November 4. The wreckage, on Blackdown (900ft) near Fern- hurst on the Surrey/Sussex border, was spread in a narrow swath some 800yd long and was compatible with the aircraft having struck in a near-level attitude at high forward speed. All on board, 30 passengers and seven crew, were killed. The Caravelle, flight IB 062 from Malaga to London Heath- row, was due to land at 2210hr, and the accident occurred at about 2202hr shortly after it had been cleared to descend through 11,000ft to a level of 6,000ft at Epsom. The impactw as at 700ft a.m.s.l. From these facts it is reasonable to assume that either the altimeters were inaccurate or were misread by a margin of 10,000ft. On entering UK airspace, the aircraft had been reported at 31,000ft and was first cleared to descend to 21,000ft and then to 11,000ft. The crew reported passing through 14,500ft and were then cleared to (the Epsom beacon at 6,000ft. The weather at this time, low cloud and rain, would mean that the pilots had no outside reference as to their height. A Bendix flight recorder was installed, and had just been recovered at the time of going to press. British Eagle have sold two of their Viscounts — V.755 — to Invicta Airways. The price, including spares, is approximately £300,000. .•• ^ ... -... BOAC Double-up A doubling of BOAC's capacity, from this year's 1,552 to 3,160m ton-miles, during the next five years, is forecast by Sir Giles Guthrie in the latest issue of BOAC News. He was writing about "G7," the latest of the airline's annually up-dated five-year plans. Cathay Crash A Convair 880M of Cathay Pacific Airways, with 120 passengers and seven crew on board, ran off the end of the runway after an aborted take-off from Hong Kong on November 5. Only one passenger died; the remaining occu- pants were rescued from Hong Kong harbour. Sadia Herald Lost An HP Herald (PP-SDJ) operated by Sadia SA Transportes Aereos of Brazil hit high ground while approaching Curitiba after a scheduled flight from Sao Paulo on November 3. There were five critically injured survivors among the 20 passengers and five crew on board. Eagle Cancels Cork No renewal of the Liverpool - Cork licence has been asked for by British Eagle, who withdrew the service from November 1. The route, served jointly by Eagle and Cambrian, has proved to be unprofitable for two operators who, after discussion, both agreed to Eagle's with- drawal. -:••••.: •- " •••" Remembrance Day Representatives The Merchant Air Ser- vice representatives at Remembrance Day ceremonies at the Cenotaph and Westminster Abbey on November 12 will be: Capt A. S. Johnson (BEA), Capt A. R. F. Thompson (BOAC), Capt G. Perrott (Cambrian), Capt I. Wallace (British Midland) and Capt C. D. Stenner (Caledonian). Regional asks for Transcontinental Rights Frontier Airlines, the local service-carrier which took over Central Airlines on October 1, has asked the CAB for a new transcontinental route between New York/Washington and Los Angeles/San Francisco, via Omaha and Des Moines. Boeing 727s or 737s would be used for the service if approved. Beaumont Memorial Lecture Sir William Hildred, former director-general of IATA, will give the first Beaumont Memorial lecture (Air Law Group) in the RAeS theatre, 4 Hamilton Place, London Wl, at 6 p.m. on November 20. The lecture is in memory of Major K. M. Beaumont, one of the foremost international air lawyers and a pioneer on the legal side of air transport. GUS Share in Caledonian The 20 per cent share previously held by the Donaldson Line in Caledonian Airways has been acquired by Great Universal Stores, which own the Global travel organisations. Other holdings in Caledonian include the Industrial and Commercial Finance Corporation, National Commercial and Schroders Development, the Lyle Shipping Co and Airways Interests (Thomson). This last, whidh is a con- sortium of the airline's directors, maintains control. BEA Scotland On November 1 BEA Scotland went into operation under Mr Robert McKean, general manager, Scottish Division, as the first of the partly autonomous "profit-centred units" into which BEA^s organisation is being broken down. Each unit will be responsible, under its own management, for day-to-day traffic handling and aircraft maintenance, staffing, financial self-sufficiency and advice to headquarters about the services which can be supported after estimates of likely future traffic.
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