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| Date: | Tuesday 30 May 1967 |
| Time: | |
| Type: |  Vickers VC10-1154 |
| Owner/operator: | East African Airways |
| Registration: | 5Y-ADA |
| MSN: | 883 |
| Fatalities: | Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: |
| Other fatalities: | 0 |
| Aircraft damage: | None |
| Category: | Serious incident |
| Location: | Indian Ocean -
 Indian Ocean
|
| Phase: | Initial climb |
| Nature: | Passenger - Scheduled |
| Departure airport: | Mumbai-Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (BOM/VABB) |
| Karachi-Jinnah International Airport (KHI/OPKC) | |
| Confidence Rating: |  Information is only available from news, social media or unofficial sources |
On this day 5Y-ADA was scheduled to fly the Bombay to Nairobi route. The crew had enjoyed their rest days in Bombay but on the day of departure the Flight Engineer reported to Captain Peter Brumby that he was feeling unwell, most likely from food poisoning, a not uncommon ailment on the Eastern routes. Brumby did not like to delay their departure and convinced the FE that he would be better off flying home and that he would keep an eye on things. And so the crew left for the airport on time, on what was a night filled with tropical storms complete with thunder and lightning.
With a lot of the passengers asleep before take off the aircraft was quiet as it climbed through 10,000 feet on the first leg to Karachi. The FE suddenly got violent dysentery cramps and told the Captain he was leaving his panel safe while he went to visit the toilet. This meant that the fuel booster pumps would have been switched on to cope with the engines' climb power demands above about 20,000 feet.
Around 15,000 feet a horn sounded and the crew noticed that the power of all the engines had decreased very quickly. Unable to maintain height the autopilot pitched the nose down to maintain the airspeed. All four engines had stopped but one generator remained on line.
Prompted by a shout from the captain, purser Harry Everitt rushed to the toilet and hammered on the door for the FE to return to the flight deck. By the time he reached his seat the aircraft was descending rapidly towards the Indian Ocean. One by one he restarted the four engines and as power was restored the descent was arrested and the aircraft resumed a climb towards its cruise altitude. There was one passenger who had noticed the engines stop and would not accept the standard story that it was 'a minor technical hitch'. He demanded a large scotch, 'on the house'.
From Karachi the aircraft continued on to Nairobi and after arrival they crew explained that they had run into icing conditions which had flamed out all four engines. This was something that had not happened before and questions were asked why the aircraft had not been grounded at Karachi for checks. The crew stuck to their story but soon telexes came in from BOAC, BAC and Rolls-Royce asking for information. EAA conducted their own test flights with booster pumps switched off on one engine up to 30,000 feet. The engine flamed out at 26,000 feet but the flight recorder showed that on ADA the engines had quit around 15,000 feet. The crew was interviewed extensively about the event.
Rolls-Royce set up a Conway on their test-bed under simulated heavy icing conditions and ran it until it exploded on the bed, causing thousands of pounds worth of damage. Later they copied the EAA test flights with a chartered BUA VC10 from Gatwick, obtaining the same results. In the end their 100-page report stated near the end that 'The Captain was a most unreliable witness to the events that happened'. This may have been in response to their inability to reach a clear conclusion.
Sources:
https://www.vc10.net/History/incidents_and_accidents.html
https://www.airhistory.net/photo/576319/5Y-ADA (Photo)
Revision history:
| Date/time | Contributor | Updates |
|---|---|---|
| 28-Jun-2025 18:25 | Justanormalperson | Added |
| 29-Jun-2025 17:21 | Justanormalperson | Updated |
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