Accident description
Last updated: 22 May 2013
| Status: | |
| Date: | 09 OCT 1960 |
| Time: | 12:47 UTC |
| Type: | Handley Page HP.81 Hermes IV |
| Operator: | Falcon Airways |
| Registration: | G-ALDC |
| C/n / msn: | HP.81/4 |
| First flight: | 1949 |
| Total airframe hrs: | 17183 |
| Crew: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 5 |
| Passengers: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 71 |
| Total: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 76 |
| Airplane damage: | Written off |
| Airplane fate: | Written off (damaged beyond repair) |
| Location: | Southend Municipal Airport (SEN) (United Kingdom) |
| Phase: | Landing (LDG) |
| Nature: | Int'l Non Scheduled Passenger |
| Departure airport: | Barcelona Airport (BCN/LEBL), Spain |
| Southend Municipal Airport (SEN/EGMC), United Kingdom |
The Hermes plane returned from a charter flight to Spain when it landed at Southend and overran the runway. The plane struck an earth bank adjacent to the airport boundary. Contact with this bank broke the nose wheel strut from its upper attachment. The plane came to rest on an adjoining railway track.
PROBABLE CAUSE: "The accident was due to the aircraft aquaplaning during part of the landing run. The low frictional values during this condition prevented the captain from obtaining effective braking." Events:
Sources:
» Air Pictorial Oct. 1965, p.371
Photos
Map
This map shows the airport of departure and the intended destination of the flight. The line between the airports does not display the exact flight path.
Distance from Barcelona Airport to Southend Municipal Airport as the crow flies is 1139 km (712 miles).
Distance from Barcelona Airport to Southend Municipal Airport as the crow flies is 1139 km (712 miles).
This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.
