The London Vickers Viking accident occurred on 2 September 1958 when an Independent Air Travel

Vickers VC.1 Viking The Vickers VC.1 Viking is a British twin-engine short-range airliner derived from the Vickers Wellington bomber and built by Vickers-Armstrongs Limited at Brooklands near Weybridge in Surrey. After the Second World War, the Viking was an i ...

( registration ''G-AIJE'') with three crew members aboard and loaded with two

Bristol Proteus The Bristol Proteus was the Bristol Engine Company's first mass-produced gas turbine engine design, a turboprop that delivered just over 4,000 hp (3,000 kW). The Proteus was a reverse-flow gas turbine. Because the second turbine drov ...

turboprop A turboprop is a turbine engine that drives an aircraft propeller. A turboprop consists of an intake, reduction gearbox, compressor, combustor, turbine, and a propelling nozzle. Air enters the intake and is compressed by the compressor. Fuel ...

engines as cargo attempted a flight from

London Heathrow Airport Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the Airports of London, London airport sys ...

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

via

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

Brindisi Brindisi ( , ) ; la, Brundisium; grc, Βρεντέσιον, translit=Brentésion; cms, Brunda), group=pron is a city in the region of Apulia in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Histo ...

and

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

.''Flight'' 21 August 1959, p.51.

Accident

The aircraft took off from Heathrow at 05:54 GMT but minutes into the flight the flight crew reported engine problems and requested a return to Blackbushe Airport. The crew was cleared by

Air Traffic Control Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled airs ...

to descend to 3000 feet, but they were unable to maintain this altitude and continued descending. A

Mayday Mayday is an emergency procedure word used internationally as a distress signal in voice-procedure radio communications. It is used to signal a life-threatening emergency primarily by aviators and mariners, but in some countries local organiza ...

call was made from the aircraft at 06:32 GMT, shortly before it crashed into a row of houses on Kelvin Gardens, Southall,

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, historic county in South East England, southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the Ceremonial counties of ...

.''Aviation Safety Network''. The aircraft burst into flames on impact, killing all three crew members as well as four people on the ground, a mother and three children. Witnesses reported that they saw one of the crew waving outside of the aircraft just before the aircraft crashed.''British Pathe'' newsreel, 4 September 1958.

Cause

According to the

Public inquiry A tribunal of inquiry is an official review of events or actions ordered by a government body. In many common law countries, such as the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, Australia and Canada, such a public inquiry differs from a royal ...

which investigated the accident, the probable cause of the accident was that "the aircraft was allowed to lose height and flying speed with the result that the pilot was no longer able to exercise asymmetric control." While the reasons for the loss of power and the subsequent loss of height and speed were not known, the public inquiry found a number of serious flaws in the operation of Independent Air Travel and the maintenance of the aircraft. Maintenance had been carried out on one of the aircraft propellers at Heathrow on the night before the accident by personnel who were not qualified to carry out the work. The aircraft was overloaded and the pilot had not had adequate rest, having effectively been on duty for 31 hours 30 minutes compared with the 16 hours required by the regulations (This took advantage of a loophole in regulations that allowed crew to carry out flights during "rest" hours if no passengers or cargo was carried.''Flight'' 28 August 1959, p.91.). Check flights, which should have tested the pilot's ability to handle the aircraft at high weights and with one engine out were found to be "perfunctory" and did not adequately prove the pilot's ability to handle the aircraft with one engine failed. The report stated that "it is quite clear...that the policy of this company was to keep its aircraft in the air at all costs and without any real regard for the requirements of maintenance." and that "it is not difficult for employers who are not unduly concerned to observe the regulations, to drive their employees and . . . to induce them to disregard the regulations designed to ensure safety in the air."

References

*
Morning Disaster
. '' British Pathe''. 4 September 1958. Retrieved 20 March 2010. *
Air Commerce: The Southall Accident: Report of the Public Inquiry
. '' Flight'', 21 August 1959, p. 58. *
Air Commerce: Southall: The Aftermath
. '' Flight'', 28 August 1959. p. 91.
Vickers 621 Viking 1 G-AIJE London Airport (LHR)
''Aviation Safety Network''. 15 April 2007. Retrieved 20 March 2010. {{DEFAULTSORT:London Vickers Viking accident Aviation accidents and incidents in 1958 Aviation accidents and incidents in London Airliner accidents and incidents involving controlled flight into terrain Accidents and incidents involving the Vickers VC.1 Viking 1958 in London Southall September 1958 events in the United Kingdom 20th century in Middlesex Disasters in Middlesex 1958 disasters in the United Kingdom History of the London Borough of Ealing Airliner accidents and incidents in the United Kingdom