>Scorpions13256 at 12:10, 30 April 2021

2021-04-30T12:10:54Z

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{{Short description|1953 aviation accident}}
{{Infobox aircraft occurrence
| name = BOAC Flight 783
| image = BOAC Comet 1952.jpg
| image_upright =
| alt =
| caption = A BOAC Comet 1 similar to the accident aircraft
| occurrence_type = Accident
| date = {{start date|1953|05|02|df=y}}
| summary = [[Structural failure]] in severe turbulence
| site = Jagalgori, near [[Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport|Dum Dum Airport]], [[Calcutta]], India
| coordinates = {{coord|22.788577|88.082081|type:event|display = inline,title}}
| occupants = 43
| passengers = 37
| crew = 6
| fatalities = 43
| injuries =
| missing =
| survivors = 0
| aircraft_type = [[de Havilland DH.106 Comet]]
| aircraft_name =
| operator = [[BOAC]]
| tail_number = G-ALYV
| origin = [[Kallang Airport]], [[Singapore]]
| stopover =
| stopover0 = [[Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport|Dum Dum Airport]], [[Calcutta]], India
| stopover1 = [[Safdarjung Airport]], India
| stopover2 =
| stopover3 =
| stopover4 =
| stopover5 =
| last_stopover =
| destination = [[London]], England
}}

On 2 May 1953, '''BOAC Flight 783''', a [[de Havilland Comet]] jetliner registered G-ALYV and operated by [[British Overseas Airways Corporation]], broke up mid-air and crashed after encountering a severe [[squall]], shortly after taking off from [[Calcutta]] (now Kolkata), India. All 43 passengers and crew on board were killed.<ref name="faa-lessons">{{cite web|title=Lessons Learned From Civil Aviation Accidents|url=http://lessonslearned.faa.gov/ll_main.cfm?TabID=1&LLID=28&LLTypeID=0|access-date=18 February 2018|website=lessonslearned.faa.gov|publisher=Federal Aviation Administration}}</ref>

The crash was followed in less than a year by two more fatal accidents involving structural failure of Comet aircraft: [[BOAC Flight 781]] and [[South African Airways Flight 201]], after which the entire fleet was grounded until extensive redesign of the type was carried out, leading to the development of the Comet 2 version.<ref name="ASN">{{Cite web|last=Ranter|first=Harro|title=ASN Aircraft accident de Havilland DH-106 Comet 1 G-ALYV Calcutta-Dum Dum Airport (CCU)|url=https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19530502-0|access-date=2020-10-11|website=aviation-safety.net|publisher=[[Aviation Safety Network]]}}</ref>

== History of the flight ==
Flight 783 had originated in [[Singapore]] and was a service to [[London]]. After a scheduled stopover at Calcutta's [[Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport|Dum Dum Airport]] (now Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport), the aircraft departed on 2 May at 16:29 [[Indian Standard Time|local time]] (10:59 [[GMT]]) on its next segment to [[Delhi]].<ref name="official-report">{{cite report|url=http://lessonslearned.faa.gov/Comet1/G-ALYV_Report.pdf|title=Report of the Court Investigation on the Accident to COMET G-ALYV on 2nd May, 1953|author=Lokur|first=N.S.|date=26 May 1953|publisher=Her Majesty's Stationery Office|location=London|access-date=18 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150415121817/http://lessonslearned.faa.gov/Comet1/G-ALYV_Report.pdf|archive-date=2015-04-15|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Six minutes after takeoff, while the jet was climbing to {{convert|7500|ft|abbr=on}}, radio contact with [[air traffic control]] was lost. At around the same time, witnesses on the ground near the village of Jagalgori, around {{convert|25|mi}} north-west of Calcutta, observed the aircraft coming down in flames. Severe rain and thunderstorms were present in the area.

The wreckage of G-ALYV was later found strewn along a {{convert|5|mi|adj=on|0}} track, with the main parts still on fire. There were no survivors.<ref name="official-report"/>

== Victims ==
The 43 people on board were 6 crew members and 37 passengers of British, American, Australian, Burmese and Filipino nationalities.<ref name="official-report"/> Among the victims were Australian politician [[Trevor Oldham]] and his wife.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18367724 |title=Comet Jet Crash in "Tempest". 43 Killed: Four Australians |newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |date=4 May 1953 |access-date=19 February 2019 |page=1 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

== Investigation ==
The subsequent investigation found that, after encountering a squall, the aircraft "suffered [[structural failure]] in the air which caused fire." The probable cause of the failure was reported as "overstressing which resulted from either: severe gusts encountered in the thundersquall, or overcontrolling or loss of control by the pilot when flying through the thunderstorm."<ref name="official-report"/><ref name="Flight-19">{{cite magazine|title=The Comet Accident – Report from Calcutta|url=https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1953/1953%20-%200787.html|access-date=18 February 2018|work=Flight and Aircraft Engineer|issue=2317|volume=LXIII|page=781|date=19 June 1953|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091115194236/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1953/1953%20-%200787.html|archive-date=15 November 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The investigators also recommended "to consider if any modification to the structure of the Comet is necessary."<ref name="official-report"/>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://lessonslearned.faa.gov/Comet1/G-ALYV_Report.pdf Accident report] - Report by N.S. Lokur, republished in the United Kingdom by the [[Ministry of Civil Aviation (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Civil Aviation]]
{{Aviation accidents and incidents in India}}
{{Aviation accidents and incidents in 1953}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boac Flight 783}}
[[Category:Accidents and incidents involving the de Havilland Comet]]
[[Category:British Overseas Airways Corporation accidents and incidents|Flight 783]]
[[Category:Airliner accidents and incidents caused by in-flight structural failure]]
[[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in India]]
[[Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 1953]]
[[Category:1953 in India]]

BOAC Flight 783 - Revision history

>Scorpions13256 at 12:10, 30 April 2021