Court Line - Accidents and Incidents

Accidents and Incidents

Autair suffered two accidents, one of which involved the loss of lives.

• The first of these occurred on 14 September 1967. One of the airline's Ambassadors (registration: G-ALZS) overran the runway at Luton Airport at the end of a non-scheduled passenger flight from Luxembourg. The aircraft had approached Luton in darkness. Visibility was 5,900 ft (1,800 m) and the cloud base 300 ft (91 m). Following touchdown, the pilot in command retracted the aircraft's flaps in the takeoff position and applied brakes intermittently. The aircraft overran the runway and came to a stop in soft clay. This caused the undercarriage to collapse. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair and had to be written off. However, there were no fatalities among the 69 occupants (four crew and 65 passengers).

• The second took place on 23 December 1967. A Hawker Siddeley HS 125 (registration: G-AVGW) crashed shortly after taking off from Luton Airport, killing both pilots. The aircraft had been on a training flight. The crash occurred when the crew simulated an engine failure on takeoff. The HS 125 lost height rapidly and hit the roof of a nearby factory. This resulted in a post-crash fire.

A Court Line aircraft was involved in a runway collision at Luton Airport. This accident killed one of the occupants of the other aircraft. Another Court Line aircraft on lease to Cyprus Airways became stranded at Cyprus's main airport as a result of the Turkish invasion of the island and was subsequently impounded.

• On 18 April 1974, BAC One-Eleven G-AXMJ was involved in a ground collision with Piper PA-23 Aztec G-AYDE during take-off from Luton Airport, Bedfordshire. The Aztec had entered the active runway without permission. The pilot of the Aztec was killed and his passenger was injured. The One-Eleven aborted its take-off and an emergency evacuation was performed with all 93 people on board escaping uninjured. The Aztec was written off and the substantially damaged One-Eleven was repaired and returned to service.

• A Court Line BAC One-Eleven leased to Cyprus Airways was stranded in 1974 at Nicosia Airport following the Turkish invasion of Cyprus. It was retrieved by British Airways engineers in 1977, but was immediately impounded on its arrival in Britain by Court Line's insurers to help pay off the debts the now defunct company owed. The aircraft was returned to Cyprus Airways in 1978 and remained in service until 1985.