Stockport Air Disaster
Encyclopedia
The Stockport Air Disaster was the crash of a Canadair C-4 Argonaut
aircraft owned by British Midland Airways
, registration G-ALHG, near the centre of Stockport
, Greater Manchester, England on Sunday 4 June 1967. 72 of the 84 aboard were killed in the accident. Of the 12 survivors, all were seriously injured. It currently stands as the fourth worst disaster in British aviation history.
The aircraft, which had been chartered by Arrowsmith Holidays Ltd, left Palma de Mallorca
at 5:00 am, carrying holidaymakers back from the Balearic Islands
to Manchester Airport. The approach controller
vectored it towards the ILS
as soon as it reached the Congleton NDB
, but the pilots were apparently unable to put the aircraft on the extended runway centreline and called an overshoot
. As the aircraft was making a second approach to the airport, the Nos. 3 and 4 engines suddenly cut out over the town of Stockport
and the No. 4 propeller
began to windmill. The aircraft became uncontrollable and crashed at 10:09 am local time in an open area between buildings close to the town centre. Despite the crash occurring in an overwhelmingly urban area, there were no fatalities on the ground. Members of the public and police risked harm to save 12 people from the mangled debris, but within minutes the wreckage was entirely engulfed in flames, killing those remaining on board who had survived the impact.
The accident drew a large crowd, estimated at around 10,000 hampering the rescue organizations.
(AIB) determined that the aircraft had run out of fuel because of a previously unrecognised flaw in the model's fuel system. The Argonaut is equipped with eight fuel tanks connected in pairs by selector valves. Each pair of tanks feeds one engine, but there is also a cross-feed system whereby fuel from any pair of tanks can be routed through the system if necessary. It was discovered that if the selector valves in the cross-feed system were just a few degrees off the normal "off" setting, fuel could inadvertently bleed through the valves. This could cause one pair of tanks to empty completely in flight, and the engine fed by the empty tanks would stop. Moreover, although the selectors were designed to "click" when they were set correctly, the click was not discernible unless the pilot leaned forward in his seat, an impossibility given the requirement for Argonaut pilots to wear snug shoulder harnesses during flight. This tendency had been noticed by pilots of other Argonauts in the past, but neither British Midland nor the other airlines using the Argonaut (Trans-Canada Airlines and Canadian Pacific Airlines
) had reported it to the manufacturer or to British Midland. Without this information, the AIB believed that it would have been extremely difficult for the pilots of G-ALHG to determine the exact nature of the emergency.
A fuel problem had not been noted on the aircraft five days earlier, this only came to light 4 months after the crash. A third contributory factor was tiredness: the Captain had been on duty for nearly 13 hours. This was within legal and operational limits but the inquiry noted that he had made several errors in repeating ATC messages.
The AIB also examined passenger and crew survivability during the accident. Autopsies on the passengers showed that although those in the very front of the fuselage had been killed by rapid deceleration injuries, those further aft had suffered massive crushing injuries to their lower legs that prevented them from escaping the burning wreckage. Investigators discovered that the bracing bars meant to keep the rows of seats separate were too weak to prevent the rows from collapsing together like a concertina
, and determined that had the bars been adequately strong, most of the passengers would have been able to escape the aircraft.
Although news reports stated that the pilot chose to crash in an open area, the AIB found no evidence to support this belief. The aircraft happened to be over an open area at the time the starboard engines cut out, and AIB investigators believed that the aircraft was completely uncontrollable after the loss of power. The captain
, who survived, did not remember the accident sequence, and the first officer died. A number of witnesses to the final seconds aloft of the aircraft claim to have seen the aircraft make a very pronounced turn to port and was quickly levelled out before descending into the Hopes Carr crash site. This strongly suggests that although struggling to control the aircraft at critically slow speed Captain Harry Marlow did exert a degree of control and probably did in fact put the aircraft down into open space, albeit an extremely small one. The AIB inquiry cleared Captain Marlow of all blame.
IN MEMORY
OF THE
SEVENTY TWO PASSENGERS
AND CREW
WHO LOST THEIR LIVES
IN THE
STOCKPORT AIR DISASTER
4th JUNE 1967
In 2002 a campaign was launched to create a further memorial at the site, commemorating rescuers who risked their lives to pull survivors from the burning aeroplane; the campaign was supported by the then Prime Minister Tony Blair
. The second memorial, dedicated to the rescuers, was unveiled in October 2002. Both memorials will be moved a short distance under current plans to redevelop the site. The regeneration project will include 375 apartments, workshops, retail and office space and a new public square. The memorials, currently on the corner of Hopes Carr and Waterloo Road, would be moved to a site overlooking Hempshaw Valley.
Canadair North Star
The Canadair North Star was a 1940s Canadian development of the Douglas C-54 / DC-4 aircraft. Instead of radial piston engines found on the Douglas design, Canadair employed Rolls-Royce Merlin engines in order to achieve a 35 mph faster cruising speed. The prototype flew on 15 July 1946 and...
aircraft owned by British Midland Airways
Bmi (airline)
British Midland Airways Limited , is an airline based at Donington Hall in Castle Donington in the United Kingdom, close to East Midlands Airport, and a fully owned subsidiary of Lufthansa...
, registration G-ALHG, near the centre of Stockport
Stockport
Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on elevated ground southeast of Manchester city centre, at the point where the rivers Goyt and Tame join and create the River Mersey. Stockport is the largest settlement in the metropolitan borough of the same name...
, Greater Manchester, England on Sunday 4 June 1967. 72 of the 84 aboard were killed in the accident. Of the 12 survivors, all were seriously injured. It currently stands as the fourth worst disaster in British aviation history.
Accident
Palma de Mallorca
Palma is the major city and port on the island of Majorca and capital city of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. The names Ciutat de Mallorca and Ciutat were used before the War of the Spanish Succession and are still used by people in Majorca. However, the official name...
at 5:00 am, carrying holidaymakers back from the Balearic Islands
Balearic Islands
The Balearic Islands are an archipelago of Spain in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula.The four largest islands are: Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera. The archipelago forms an autonomous community and a province of Spain with Palma as the capital...
to Manchester Airport. The approach controller
Air traffic controller
Air traffic controllers are the people who expedite and maintain a safe and orderly flow of air traffic in the global air traffic control system. The position of the air traffic controller is one that requires highly specialized skills...
vectored it towards the ILS
Instrument Landing System
An instrument landing system is a ground-based instrument approach system that provides precision guidance to an aircraft approaching and landing on a runway, using a combination of radio signals and, in many cases, high-intensity lighting arrays to enable a safe landing during instrument...
as soon as it reached the Congleton NDB
Non-directional beacon
A non-directional beacon is a radio transmitter at a known location, used as an aviation or marine navigational aid. As the name implies, the signal transmitted does not include inherent directional information, in contrast to other navigational aids such as low frequency radio range, VHF...
, but the pilots were apparently unable to put the aircraft on the extended runway centreline and called an overshoot
Overshoot (aviation)
In aviation, an overshoot is an aborted landing. See: Go-around and Runway safety area.In air combat maneuvering, also called dogfighting, an overshoot can refer to three different situations. The first is referred to as a wingline overshoot...
. As the aircraft was making a second approach to the airport, the Nos. 3 and 4 engines suddenly cut out over the town of Stockport
Stockport
Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on elevated ground southeast of Manchester city centre, at the point where the rivers Goyt and Tame join and create the River Mersey. Stockport is the largest settlement in the metropolitan borough of the same name...
and the No. 4 propeller
Propeller (aircraft)
Aircraft propellers or airscrews convert rotary motion from piston engines or turboprops to provide propulsive force. They may be fixed or variable pitch. Early aircraft propellers were carved by hand from solid or laminated wood with later propellers being constructed from metal...
began to windmill. The aircraft became uncontrollable and crashed at 10:09 am local time in an open area between buildings close to the town centre. Despite the crash occurring in an overwhelmingly urban area, there were no fatalities on the ground. Members of the public and police risked harm to save 12 people from the mangled debris, but within minutes the wreckage was entirely engulfed in flames, killing those remaining on board who had survived the impact.
The accident drew a large crowd, estimated at around 10,000 hampering the rescue organizations.
Investigation
Investigators with the Accidents Investigation BranchAir Accidents Investigation Branch
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch investigates air accidents in the United Kingdom. It is a branch of the Department for Transport and is based on the grounds of Farnborough Airport near Aldershot, Rushmoor, Hampshire.-History:...
(AIB) determined that the aircraft had run out of fuel because of a previously unrecognised flaw in the model's fuel system. The Argonaut is equipped with eight fuel tanks connected in pairs by selector valves. Each pair of tanks feeds one engine, but there is also a cross-feed system whereby fuel from any pair of tanks can be routed through the system if necessary. It was discovered that if the selector valves in the cross-feed system were just a few degrees off the normal "off" setting, fuel could inadvertently bleed through the valves. This could cause one pair of tanks to empty completely in flight, and the engine fed by the empty tanks would stop. Moreover, although the selectors were designed to "click" when they were set correctly, the click was not discernible unless the pilot leaned forward in his seat, an impossibility given the requirement for Argonaut pilots to wear snug shoulder harnesses during flight. This tendency had been noticed by pilots of other Argonauts in the past, but neither British Midland nor the other airlines using the Argonaut (Trans-Canada Airlines and Canadian Pacific Airlines
Canadian Pacific Airlines
Canadian Pacific Air Lines was a Canadian airline that operated from 1942 to 1987. It operated under the name CP Air from 1968 to 1986...
) had reported it to the manufacturer or to British Midland. Without this information, the AIB believed that it would have been extremely difficult for the pilots of G-ALHG to determine the exact nature of the emergency.
A fuel problem had not been noted on the aircraft five days earlier, this only came to light 4 months after the crash. A third contributory factor was tiredness: the Captain had been on duty for nearly 13 hours. This was within legal and operational limits but the inquiry noted that he had made several errors in repeating ATC messages.
The AIB also examined passenger and crew survivability during the accident. Autopsies on the passengers showed that although those in the very front of the fuselage had been killed by rapid deceleration injuries, those further aft had suffered massive crushing injuries to their lower legs that prevented them from escaping the burning wreckage. Investigators discovered that the bracing bars meant to keep the rows of seats separate were too weak to prevent the rows from collapsing together like a concertina
Concertina
A concertina is a free-reed musical instrument, like the various accordions and the harmonica. It has a bellows and buttons typically on both ends of it. When pressed, the buttons travel in the same direction as the bellows, unlike accordion buttons which travel perpendicularly to it...
, and determined that had the bars been adequately strong, most of the passengers would have been able to escape the aircraft.
Although news reports stated that the pilot chose to crash in an open area, the AIB found no evidence to support this belief. The aircraft happened to be over an open area at the time the starboard engines cut out, and AIB investigators believed that the aircraft was completely uncontrollable after the loss of power. The captain
Pilot in command
The pilot in command of an aircraft is the person aboard the aircraft who is ultimately responsible for its operation and safety during flight. This would be the "captain" in a typical two- or three-pilot flight crew, or "pilot" if there is only one certified and qualified pilot at the controls of...
, who survived, did not remember the accident sequence, and the first officer died. A number of witnesses to the final seconds aloft of the aircraft claim to have seen the aircraft make a very pronounced turn to port and was quickly levelled out before descending into the Hopes Carr crash site. This strongly suggests that although struggling to control the aircraft at critically slow speed Captain Harry Marlow did exert a degree of control and probably did in fact put the aircraft down into open space, albeit an extremely small one. The AIB inquiry cleared Captain Marlow of all blame.
Legacy of the accident
In 1998 a memorial plaque was unveiled (by two survivors) at the scene of the accident. It bears the legend:IN MEMORY
OF THE
SEVENTY TWO PASSENGERS
AND CREW
WHO LOST THEIR LIVES
IN THE
STOCKPORT AIR DISASTER
4th JUNE 1967
In 2002 a campaign was launched to create a further memorial at the site, commemorating rescuers who risked their lives to pull survivors from the burning aeroplane; the campaign was supported by the then Prime Minister Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
. The second memorial, dedicated to the rescuers, was unveiled in October 2002. Both memorials will be moved a short distance under current plans to redevelop the site. The regeneration project will include 375 apartments, workshops, retail and office space and a new public square. The memorials, currently on the corner of Hopes Carr and Waterloo Road, would be moved to a site overlooking Hempshaw Valley.
Further reading
- Air Disaster, Vol. 4: The Propeller Era, by Macarthur JobMacarthur JobMacarthur Job is an Australian aviation writer and air safety consultant. He has published nine books on aviation safety...
, Aerospace Publications Pty. Ltd. (Australia), 2001 ISBN 1-875671-48-X, pp. 154–169. - The Day the Sky Fell Down: The Story of the Stockport Air Disaster, by Stephen R. Morrin, 1998, ISBN 0-9534503-0-9.
External links
- 40th anniversary articles about the accident- Names of passengers and crew. Retrieved 2009-10-09.