ASN Aircraft accident Vickers 754D Viscount OD-ADE Ulus District, Ankara
ASN logo
 
 
Status:Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Date:Friday 1 February 1963
Time:13:13 UTC
Type:Silhouette image of generic VISC model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different
Vickers 754D Viscount
Operator:Middle East Airlines - MEA
Registration: OD-ADE
MSN: 244
First flight: 1957-11-24 (5 years 2 months)
Total airframe hrs:13187
Cycles:5515
Engines: 4 Rolls-Royce Dart 510
Crew:Fatalities: 3 / Occupants: 3
Passengers:Fatalities: 11 / Occupants: 11
Total:Fatalities: 14 / Occupants: 14
Ground casualties:Fatalities: 87
Collision casualties:Fatalities: 3
Aircraft damage: Destroyed
Aircraft fate: Written off (damaged beyond repair)
Location:Ulus District, Ankara (   Turkey)
Phase: Approach (APR)
Nature:International Scheduled Passenger
Departure airport:Nicosia Airport (NIC/LCNC), Cyprus
Destination airport:Ankara-Esenboga Airport (ESB/LTAC), Turkey
Flightnumber:ME265
Narrative:
Middle East Airlines flight 265, a Vickers Viscount registered OD-ADE, was descending for Ankara-Esenboga Airport, Turkey and had been cleared for an approach to runway 03. Last radio contact was at 13:09 hours GMT when the flight reported being over the Ankara NDB at 8000 feet, descending for 6500 feet. The crew would contact Ankara again over the NDB when inbound.
Earlier in the day, at 11:22 GMT, a Douglas C-47 transport plane of the Turkish Air Force (CBK28) had taken off from Ankara's Etimesgut Air Base for an instrument training flight in the southeast region of the Gölbasi beacon.
The duration of the flight was planned for 1 hour 30 minutes . In this type of flight the student pilot is normally seated in the left-hand seat, an orange plexiglass panel is placed in front of him on the left half of the windshield, and he wears dark blue glasses. The instructor is in the right-hand seat and is able to maintain a lookout. The training manoeuvres had been completed, and the aircraft was returning to Etimesgut flying under visual flight rules by the time MEA flight 265 was descending for Esenboga Airport.
The Viscount, cruising on a heading of 283°, collided with the C-47 which was flying on a heading of 243° towards Etimesgut. The lower right-hand-side of the Viscount's nose and the starboard wing struck the C-47 from behind at a 40° angle in the door area on its port side. Propeller no. 3 also struck the C-47's left horizontal stabilizer, cutting it off. The blade ends broke off and remained with the tail unit of the C-47 near the base of the left horizontal stabilizer. The blade of propeller no. 4 cut the underside of the tip of the right horizontal stabilizer. Both aircraft flew together for a very short time then separated. The tail unit of the C-47 having been cut off, the C-47 fell vertically immediately thereafter. Prior to being cut off, the left horizontal stabilizer of the C-47 damaged the starboard side skin covering of the Viscount in the vicinity of the passenger cabin windows. This piece of skin covering broke off, and some of the passengers fell out through this hole. The Viscount flew a very short while following the separation of the two aircraft, then nosed down and fell.
Both aircraft crashed into a residential area of Ankara, killing 87 people on the ground.

Probable Cause:

PROBABLE CAUSE: "The Viscount aircraft had an IFR flight plan but was cruising under VFR conditions when it hit, with the lower side of the nose and with its starboard wing, the C-47 aircraft of the Turkish Air Force between the door on the port side of the fuselage and the tail group at an angle of forty degrees from the left rear and at an angle of approximately five to ten degrees upward. It cut off, with its starboard inner (No.3) propeller, the port side horizontal stabilizer of the C-47 aircraft. The pilots of the Viscount aircraft did not see the C-47 aircraft cruising below 7000ft on their right-hand side forward, and the Viscount, having a higher speed, caught up with the C-47 from the left rear. At the last moment the Viscount pilots saw the C-47 and tried to avoid the collision by pulling up, but they did not succeed."

Classification:
VFR flight in IMC
Mid air collision
Loss of control

Sources:
» Viscount c/n 244 operational record
» ICAO Accident Digest No.15 - Volume I, Circular 78-AN/66 (43-50)


Photos

photo of Vickers-754D-Viscount-OD-ADE
accident date: 01-02-1963
type: Vickers 754D Viscount
registration: OD-ADE
 

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 Nicosia Airport to Ankara-Esenboga Airport as the crow flies is 550 km (344 miles).
Accident location: Approximate; accuracy within a few kilometers.

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.
languages: languages

Share

Vickers Viscount

  • 445 built
  • 44th loss
  • 25th fatal accident
  • The worst accident
» safety profile

 Turkey
  • The worst accident (at the time)
  • 2nd worst accident (currently)
» safety profile

The Aviation Safety Network is an exclusive service provided by:
Quick Links:

CONNECT WITH US: FSF on social media FSF Facebook FSF Twitter FSF Youtube FSF LinkedIn FSF Instagram

©2024 Flight Safety Foundation

1920 Ballenger Av, 4th Fl.
Alexandria, Virginia 22314
www.FlightSafety.org