__NOTOC__ The 1957 Blackbushe Viking accident occurred on 1 May 1957 when an Eagle Aviation twin-engined Vickers VC.1 Viking 1B registered ''G-AJBO'' named "John Benbow" crashed into trees near

Blackbushe Airport Blackbushe Airport is an operational general aviation airport in the civil parish of Yateley in the north-east corner of the English county of Hampshire. Built during the Second World War, Blackbushe is north of the A30 road between Camberley ...

, located in

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

, England, on approach following a suspected engine failure on take-off. All five crew and 29 of the 30 passengers were killed. The aircraft also carried the RAF serial number XF629 allotted to this aircraft for use during trooping flights only.

Accident

At 21:14 the Viking took off from

on an unscheduled passenger flight to

RAF Idris Castel Benito (called originally in Italian "Tripoli-Castel Benito Airport") was an airport of Tripoli created by the Italians in Italian Libya. Originally, it was a small military airport, but it was enlarged in the late 1930s and was later ...

in Libya. The aircraft on charter to the War Office had five crew, 25 soldiers from the

Royal Army Ordnance Corps The Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC) was a corps of the British Army. At its renaming as a Royal Corps in 1918 it was both a supply and repair corps. In the supply area it had responsibility for weapons, armoured vehicles and other military equip ...

, one soldier's wife, two children and two war department civilians. At 21:16 the pilot reported ''I have port engine failure, I am making a left-hand circuit to come in again''. As the aircraft turned onto the approach to land, while still about 1200 yards (1,116 m) from the runway, the aircraft crashed into a wooded copse at Star Hill. Thirty-four of the 35 on board were killed.

Aftermath

The aircraft exploded and burst into flames when it hit the ground about 50 yards (46 m) from the A30 road. Passing lorry drivers were the first to help. Ambulances and six fire tenders from the airport were quickly on the scene. The airport fire tenders were soon joined by others from Surrey, Berkshire, Hampshire and

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

personnel temporarily based at Blackbushe. The 29 bodies were recovered and four survivors were taken to

Cambridge Military Hospital Cambridge Military Hospital was a hospital completed in 1879 in Aldershot Garrison, Hampshire, England which served the various British Army camps there. During World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviate ...

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...

. Three of those in hospital subsequently died leaving only one survivor.

Investigation

A coroner's inquest was held at Aldershot on 5 June 1957 which returned a verdict of accidental death on the 34 who died. A public inquiry was opened in London on 23 July 1957. The inquiry report was published in November 1957 and determined that the loss was caused by an error of skill and judgement by the pilot. The report noted that although Captain Jones had flown over 6,800 hours of which 4,800 had been with the Viking he had not made a single-engined landing for at least two years. Because of the fire it was not possible to determine if the port engine had failed.

Probable cause

The probable cause was the failure of the captain to maintain a safe altitude and airspeed when approaching to land on one engine after failure (or suspected failure) of the port engine.

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * {{DEFAULTSORT:Blackbushe Viking Accident Aviation accidents and incidents in 1957 Aviation accidents and incidents in England Accidents and incidents involving the Vickers VC.1 Viking Airliner accidents and incidents caused by pilot error British Eagle accidents and incidents 1957 in England 1957 disasters in the United Kingdom May 1957 events in the United Kingdom