The entire fleet of 27 Admiral-class Vikings used by B.E.A. on domestic and international routes were grounded on Friday, April 24th, when the possibility of passenger seats becoming loose was discovered. Apparently the rivets joining the two channel-section members which retain seats in position were too short; the corrective action consisted of drilling new holes and fitting longer rivets. The problem was tackled energetically by B.E.A. engineers at London and Renfrew, and by Monday all but one of the aircraft were back in service. Vikings and Pionairs stood-in for Admirals during their temporary absence, and no flights were cancelled. The occurrence was the subject of an altogether disproportionate degree of publicity in several London newspapers.
Source: Flight International
