Status:	Final
Date:	16 FEB 1980
Time:	14:16 EST
Type:	Bristol 175 Britannia 253
Operator:	Redcoat Air Cargo
Registration:	G-BRAC
C/n / msn:	13448
First flight:	1959
Total airframe hrs:	21963
Cycles:	8310
Engines:	4 Rolls Royce 790 Proteus
Crew:	Fatalities: 4 / Occupants: 5
Passengers:	Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3
Total:	Fatalities: 7 / Occupants: 8
Airplane damage:	Written off
Airplane fate:	Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location:	Billerica, MA (United States of America)
Phase:	En route (ENR)
Nature:	Cargo
Departure airport:	Boston-Logan International Airport, MA (BOS/KBOS), United States of America
Destination airport:	Shannon Airport (SNN/EINN), Ireland
Flightnumber:	103

Narrative:
Flight 103 took off from Boston runway 33L at 14:08 in bad weather (800m visibility in snow, fog and moderate to severe icing in precipitation).
The cargo aircraft reached an altitude of 1700 feet after take-off and started to descend. The aircraft descended into a wooded area and crashed.

PROBABLE CAUSE: "Degraded aerodynamic performance beyond the flight capabilities of the aircraft resulting from an accumulation of ice and snow on the airframe before take-off and a further accumulation of ice when the aircraft was flown into moderate to severe icing conditions following take-off.
Contributing were encounters with windshear, downdraughts and turbulence during the climb. The failure of the flight crew to obtain an adequate pre-flight weather briefing and the failure of the National Weather Service to advise the crew of a SIGMET for severe icing conditions were also contributing factors."

Sources:
» NTSB Safety Recommendations A-81-18
» NTSB-AAR-81-3