1957 Nutts Corner BEA Viscount crash

Airplane crash in Northern Ireland May 2011 January 2025 1957 Nutts Corner BEA Viscount crash Accident Viscount 700 G-AMAV NZ Air Race.jpg 1.20 A Vickers Viscount 802 similar to the accident aircraft, in later British European Airways livery. 1957 10 23 y Undetermined Belfast, Nutts Corner, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom 54 37 41 N 6 10 26 W type:event inline,title Vickers Viscount 802 British European Airways G-AOJA London Heathrow Airport, England, United Kingdom Nutts Corner, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom 2 5 0 7 0 The 1957 Nutts Corner BEA Viscount crash was a British European Airways (BEA) flight from London to Belfast that crashed at Nutts Corner Airport on 23 October 1957, killing all seven passengers and crew.Accident Vickers 802 Viscount G-AOJA, Wednesday 23 October 1957 https://asn.flightsafety.org/asndb/334376 2024-10-21 asn.flightsafety.org Aircraft The aircraft was a Vickers Viscount 802, registration G-AOJA, built and delivered to BEA the previous year. It was the first 800 Series Viscount built and was used by the manufacturer Vickers-Armstrongs for test and promotional flights prior to delivery.Flight 7 September 1956, p. 437. retrieved 24 June 2010. Accident On the afternoon of the accident the aircraft took off from London Heathrow Airport at 15:16 GMT on a non-scheduled positioning flight to Nutts Corner Airport in Belfast, Northern Ireland, where it was due to pick up the UK government Minister of Supply Aubrey Jones and a group of journalists, who had been attending the opening of a research building for Short & Harland Ltd in Belfast.Major Airline Disasters: Involving Commercial Passenger Airlines 1920–2011 http://www.airdisasters.co.uk/231057.htm airdisasters.co.uk 22 February 2013 An hour-and-a-half later, with low cloud and rain at Nutts Corner, the aircraft commenced its approach to land from the east on runway 28. As the aircraft neared the runway it veered right of the runway centreline. Less than 3/4 mi from the eastern end of the runway the crew carried out a go-around, but the aircraft crashed about 1000 ft to the left of the far end of the runway. The accident killed all five crew and the two passengers (a BEA official and his wife) on board, and the aircraft was destroyed.Flight 1 November 1957, p. 669.Flight 9 May 1958, p. 646. Investigation and cause A public inquiry was convened to investigate the accident, during which it emerged that the airport's approach lighting system may have been switched off at the time of the aircraft's landing attempt.Flight 24 October 1958, p. 674. The inquiry also heard evidence regarding a bent screwdriver that had been found in the wreckage, but as this had been removed by an airport worker before its position in the wreckage had been recorded, the likelihood of the object jamming the flight controls could not be assessed. At the conclusion of the inquiry, while it made recommendations regarding the security of aircraft crash sites and tool control during maintenance, and suggested that records be kept of when airport approach lighting was switched on or off, no official cause of the accident was determined.Flight 18 July 1958, p. 91. References "The Seventeenth S.B.A.C. Display", Flight, 7 September 1956, pp. 429–438 "Belfast Tragedy", Flight, 1 November 1957, p. 669. "B.E.A. Viscount 802 Loss", Flight 9 May 1958, p. 646. "B.E.A. Viscount Accident Unexplained", Flight 18 July 1958, p. 91. "Viscount Mystery", Flight 24 October 1958, p. 674. Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 1957 Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in Northern Ireland Category:Aviation accidents and incidents involving the Vickers Viscount 19571023 Category:1957 disasters in the United Kingdom Category:1957 in Northern Ireland Category:20th century in Belfast Category:October 1957 in the United Kingdom