ASN Aircraft accident Avro 748-105 Srs. 1 G-BEKF Sumburgh Airport, Shetland Islands (LSI)
ASN logo
 

Status:Accident investigation report completed and information captured
Date:Tuesday 31 July 1979
Time:16:01
Type:Silhouette image of generic A748 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different
Avro 748-105 Srs. 1
Operator:Dan-Air Services
Registration: G-BEKF
MSN: 1542
First flight: 1962
Total airframe hrs:29007
Engines: 2 Rolls-Royce Dart 514
Crew:Fatalities: 2 / Occupants: 3
Passengers:Fatalities: 15 / Occupants: 44
Total:Fatalities: 17 / Occupants: 47
Aircraft damage: Damaged beyond repair
Location:Sumburgh Airport, Shetland Islands (LSI) (   United Kingdom)
Phase: Takeoff (TOF)
Nature:Domestic Non Scheduled Passenger
Departure airport:Sumburgh Airport, Shetland Islands (LSI/EGPB), United Kingdom
Destination airport:Aberdeen-Dyce Airport (ABZ/EGPD), United Kingdom
Flightnumber:0034
Narrative:
The aircraft was engaged on a series of charter flights, carrying oil company personnel between Aberdeen, Scotland and Sumburgh, Shetland Islands. The inbound flight to Sumburgh had been made without incident and no significant malfunction of the aircraft had been reported.
The crew, consisting of two pilots and a stewardess, then had a stopover of nearly seven hours before departing on the return flight, Dan-Air 0034, with 44 passengers on board. It has not been established who was the handling pilot on this sector.
At 15:48 hrs, in conditions of moderate visibility, but with low cloud, rain and a fresh easterly wind, the aircraft was taxied out to the holding point 'India', the intersection of the disused runway and runway 15/33. Meanwhile the stewardess gave the company's standard safety briefmg, using a megaphone because the passenger address (PA) system was 'screeching'. The briefing included mention of the location of the lifejackets, how they should be put on, and the method of inflation; also mentioned was the location of the emergency exits. A diagram displaying the method of donning the jackets was fixed to the forward bulkhead of the cabin.
Because of other aircraft movements, 'KF' was held at point 'India' for six minutes before being cleared, at 15:57 hrs, to 'enter and backtrack' for a take-off on runway 09, which was virtually into wind. Whilst the aircraft was backtracking, ATC passed the crew the en route clearance, which was read back correctly by the co-pilot. The aircraft was seen to turn close to the western end of the runway and line up on the runway heading.
At 15:59 hrs the flight received take-off clearance from ATC and this was acknowledged by the co-pilot. There is evidence to show that the engines were accelerated whilst the aircraft was held stationary on the brakes and that full take-off power, using watermethanol, was achieved on the take-off run, which commenced at almost exactly 16:00 hrs.
Evidence from the aircraft's Flight Data Recorder (FDR) shows that the aircraft accelerated normally through the decision speed, V1 (92 kts), to the rotation and safety speed VR/2 (99 kts). No rotation was carried out and even though the aircraft reached a speed significantly higher than VR of the order of 113 kts, it failed to become airborne.
About 5 seconds after reaching the scheduled rotation speed, and after passing the intersection with the disused runway, the aircraft began to decelerate. Veering gradually to the left as it crossed the grass overrun area, it then made contact with a discontinuity or 'step', approximately 40 centimetres high, at the edge of the airfield perimeter road and partial collapse of the undercarriage followed. After crossing the road in a left wing low and nose down attitude the aircraft passed over the inclined sea defences and came to rest in the sea some 50 metres from the shore line.
The emergency services arrived at the point on the road adjacent to the crash site within two minutes of the accident. However, about a minute later the aircraft sank, nose first, in some ten metres of water, leaving only the rear section of the fuselage visible. Twenty-nine passengers and the stewardess were rescued, or managed to swim to the shore, under adverse weather conditions. Despite rescue attempts mounted from the shore, by small craft and by helicopters summoned to the scene, fifteen passengers and the two pilots died by drowning.

Probable Cause:

PROBABLE CAUSE: "It was concluded that the accident was caused by the locked condition of the elevators which prevented the rotation of the aircraft into a flying attitude. It is likely that the elevator gust-lock became re-engaged during the pilot's pre-take-off check, and that this condition was not apparent to either pilot until the take-off was so far advanced that a successful abandonment within the overrun area could not be reasonably have been made. The re-engagement of the gust-lock was made possible by the condition of the gust-lock lever gate plate and gate-stop strip."

Accident investigation:

cover
Investigating agency: AIB (U.K.)
Status: Investigation completed
Duration: 1 year and 10 months
Accident number: AAR 1/1981
Download report: Final report

Classification:
Locked rudders/ailerons/gustlock
Runway excursion

Sources:
» Flight International 25 July 1981 (216-217)


Follow-up / safety actions
All British HS-748 planes were fitted with a light on the gust-lock lever to warn the pilots if the lever is not properly in the controls-free detent. Also, Dan-Air redesigned the lifejacket stowage.

AIB issued 10 Safety Recommendations

Show all...

Photos

photo of HS-748-105-Srs-1-G-BEKF
accident date: 31-07-1979
type: Hawker Siddeley HS-748-105 Srs. 1
registration: G-BEKF
 

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 Sumburgh Airport, Shetland Islands to Aberdeen-Dyce Airport as the crow flies is 300 km (187 miles).
Accident location: Exact; deduced from official accident report.

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

HS-748

  • ca 337 built
  • 30th loss
  • 14th fatal accident
  • 9th worst accident (at the time)
  • 16th worst accident (currently)
» safety profile

 United Kingdom
  • 31st worst accident (at the time)
  • 34th 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