Flight and Disaster
Gerry Bull, a former BOAC engineer, said that when he inspected the aircraft in Rome he looked for "incidental damage." He did not find any, so he believed Flight 781 was fit for flight. Bull and the same team of engineers later examined South African Airways Flight 201 before its final flight.
On 10 January 1954, the flight took off at 09:34 GMT for the final-stage flight to London. 31-year-old Alan Gibson, who served as the captain, was one of the youngest pilots at BOAC.
At about 09:50 GMT a passing BOAC Argonaut G-ALHJ piloted by Captain Johnson, was in contact with Captain Gibson. During a radio communication about weather conditions, the conversation was abruptly cut off. The last words heard from Captain Gibson were "George How Jig, did you get my..". About this time wreckage was seen falling into the sea by fishermen.
Heathrow Airport initially listed Flight 781 as being delayed; around 1:30 PM the airport took the flight off the arrivals board.
Read more about this topic: BOAC Flight 781
Famous quotes containing the words flight and, flight and/or disaster:
“In all her products, Nature only develops her simplest germs. One would say that it was no great stretch of invention to create birds. The hawk which now takes his flight over the top of the wood was at first, perchance, only a leaf which fluttered in its aisles. From rustling leaves she came in the course of ages to the loftier flight and clear carol of the bird.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Here I am.... You get the parts of me you like and also the parts that make you uncomfortable. You have to understand that other people’s comfort is no longer my job. I am no longer a flight attendant.”
—Patricia Ireland (b. 1935)
“Therefore it was surprising that, as we kept the newspapers from
Mother,
She died feeling responsible for a disaster unverified,
Murmuring, in her sleep as it seemed, the ancient slogan
Noblesse oblige.”
—Josephine Miles (1911–1985)