British United Airways Flight 1030X crashed on 14 April 1965 on

Jersey Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label= Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west France. It is the l ...

in the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands ( nrf, Îles d'la Manche; french: îles Anglo-Normandes or ''îles de la Manche'') are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two Crown Dependencies: the Bailiwick of Jersey, ...

. Poor visibility and low cloud cover resulted in an aborted landing attempt, leading to a second attempt which ended with the

Douglas C-47B The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF, RAAF, RCAF, RNZAF, and SAAF designation) is a military transport aircraft A military transport aircraft, military cargo aircraft or airlifter is a military-owned transport aircraft used to su ...

hitting the outermost pole of the approach lighting system before crashing into a field and catching fire. The crash killed all 23 passengers and three of the crew on board; a flight attendant was the only survivor of the accident.

The aircraft

The aircraft was a Douglas C-47B-20-DK (registration: G-ANTB), converted to a

DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper version ...

for civil use, that had its first flight in 1945, with a total of 18,544 flying hours before the accident. It was being operated by British United (C.I.) Airways, an affiliate of

British United Airways British United Airways (BUA) was a private, independentindependent from government-owned corporations British airline formed as a result of the merger of Airwork Services and Hunting-Clan Air Transport in July 1960, making it the largest whol ...

."ASN Aircraft accident Douglas C-47B-20-DK G-ANTB Jersey-States Airport, Channel Islands (JER)"
''Aviation Safety Network''.

Accident

British United Airways' extra scheduled

passenger flight An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in which ...

1030X took off from

Paris-Orly Airport Paris Orly Airport (french: Aéroport de Paris-Orly), commonly referred to as Orly , is one of two international airports serving the French capital, Paris, the other one being Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG). It is located partially in Orly an ...

in France to

Jersey Airport Jersey Airport is an international airport located in the parish of Saint Peter, west northwest of Saint Helier in Jersey, in the Channel Islands. History Air service to Jersey before 1937 consisted of biplane airliners and some seaplanes la ...

, with 27 passengers and crew on board. Low cloud cover at Jersey likely made it hard for the pilots to see the

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt, concre ...

, leading to an aborted first landing attempt. On the second landing attempt, the aircraft's starboard wing hit the outermost pole of the approach lighting system at a height of , short of the runway threshold. The impact severed the starboard

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces lift while moving through air or some other fluid. Accordingly, wings have streamlined cross-sections that are subject to aerodynamic forces and act as airfoils. A wing's aerodynamic efficiency is e ...

; the aircraft then rolled upside-down and crashed. The

flight deck The flight deck of an aircraft carrier is the surface from which its aircraft take off and land, essentially a miniature airfield at sea. On smaller naval ships which do not have aviation as a primary mission, the landing area for helicopte ...

of the aircraft was crushed, and the cabin engulfed in flames. All 23 passengers, most of whom were believed to be French, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese

migrant farm worker A migrant worker is a person who migrates within a home country or outside it to pursue work. Migrant workers usually do not have the intention to stay permanently in the country or region in which they work. Migrant workers who work outsi ...

s, along with three of the four crew members, were killed. The only survivor was a French flight attendant who was sitting in the rear of the cabin, which had separated from the remainder of the

fuselage The fuselage (; from the French ''fuselé'' "spindle-shaped") is an aircraft's main body section. It holds crew, passengers, or cargo. In single-engine aircraft, it will usually contain an engine as well, although in some amphibious aircraf ...

following the impact. She was badly injured, with two broken legs.''Flight International'', 5 May 1966, p. 755''Daytona Beach Morning Journal'', 15 April 1965''The Gazette'', 15 April 1965

Cause

The accident investigation concluded that the accident was the result of the pilot attempting to land in visibility that was far below that laid down by the airline's procedures. The weather in the Channel Islands had been poor all day, with many flights cancelled. Despite being informed during the flight of the poor and deteriorating conditions, the pilot elected not to divert to another airport. The accident report recommended considering mounting approach lights on

frangible A material is said to be frangible if through deformation it tends to break up into fragments, rather than deforming elastically and retaining its cohesion as a single object. Common crackers are examples of frangible materials, while fresh bre ...

masts to avoid a similar catastrophe, and further recommended a re-consideration of regulations for operating in poor weather.

References

"Emergencies – 26 Killed As Plane Crashes"
''

Daytona Beach Morning Journal ''The Daytona Beach News-Journal'' is a Florida daily newspaper serving Volusia and Flagler Counties. It grew from the ''Halifax Journal'', which was started in 1883. The Davidson family purchased the newspaper in 1928 and retained control unt ...

'', News-Journal Corp,

Daytona Beach, FL Daytona Beach, or simply Daytona, is a coastal resort-city in east-central Florida. Located on the eastern edge of Volusia County near the Atlantic coastline, its population was 72,647 at the 2020 census. Daytona Beach is approximately nort ...

, 15 April 1965.
"Air Crash In Jersey Kills 26"
'' The Gazette'', Postmedia Network Inc,

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...

, 15 April 1965.
"Report on the Jersey Accident"
''Flight'', 5 May 1966, p. 755.

External links

Flight International ''Flight International'' is a monthly magazine focused on aerospace. Published in the United Kingdom and founded in 1909 as "A Journal devoted to the Interests, Practice, and Progress of Aerial Locomotion and Transport", it is the world's old ...

'', 22 April 1965, p. 629. {{Aviation accidents and incidents in the United Kingdom Aviation accidents and incidents in 1965 Aviation accidents and incidents in the Channel Islands Aviation in Jersey British United Airways accidents and incidents Jersey Airlines accidents and incidents 1965 in Jersey Disasters in Jersey April 1965 events in Europe Accidents and incidents involving the Douglas C-47 Skytrain