Catastrophe de Havilland Comet near Barcelona

The crashed plane during the period of work in the BOAC (1964)

De Havilland DH-106 Comet 4C with the tail number G-APDN (serial 6415, serial 199) was released in 1959 and in April sold to British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC). Its four turbojet engines were Rolls-Royce Avon 524 models, and passenger capacity was reportedly 119 seats. In 1969, the plane was bought by the charter Dan-Air , while the tail number remained unchanged. In total, at the time of the accident, the airliner had 25,786 flight hours, including 257 flight hours since the last technical examination (May 13, 1970) ^{[2] [3]} .

The crew of flight DA1903 was as follows:

• The aircraft commander is 48-year-old Alexander George Neal . He received a civilian pilot license on February 6, 1967, and qualified for the Comet , Britannia, and HS-104 aircraft commander. Alexander Neil trained as a pilot in the Royal Air Force , after which he got a job as a co-pilot at British Eagle . In March 1969, Neil got a job at Dan-Air first as a co-pilot, in May 1970 he qualified for the commander. It had a total flight time of 7427 hours, including 605 hours on Comet aircraft and 29 hours in the post of commander. This flight to Barcelona for him was the first in the post of commander, although earlier on May 19, 1970 he had already made one such flight when checking the route ^[4] .
• The co - pilot is 41-year-old David Shorrock. He received a civilian pilot license on July 18, 1968, was qualified for Comet , Britannia, and BAC 1-11 , and wore glasses due to myopia . David Shorrock trained as a pilot at the Civilian Flight Academy, and then settled in British Eagle . In April 1969, he got a job at Dan-Air as a co-pilot on BAC 1-11, in March 1970 he qualified as co-pilot of the Comet. It had a total flight time of 4765 hours, of which 189 hours were on Comet aircraft ^[4] .
• Flight Engineer - 40-year-old David Walter Stanley Sayer. He was qualified for flight engineer DC-7B and Comet 4 . He began working at Dan-Air as a ground-based aircraft technician, was qualified as a DC-7B flight engineer in July 1967, and as a comet 4 flight engineer in December 1969. The total flight time in the position of flight engineer was 1275 hours, of which 218 hours were on “Comet 4” ^[2] .

In the cabin, 4 flight attendants worked ^[2] .

The plane was booked by the British travel agency Clarksons Travel Group and operated a charter flight from Manchester ( UK ) to Barcelona ( Spain ). At 16:08 (instead of the planned 16:00 ^[5] ), the airliner with 7 crew members and 105 passengers on board flew from Manchester Airport . The flight according to the plan was to take place along the air corridors UA1, UA34, UB31 and through Berg's point (“B”). But due to a delay by the dispatcher of Paris , the crew was instructed to follow through the corridor UA25 along the route Cognac (passed at 17:25) - Agen - Toulouse (passed at 17:43), leaving for corridor UA31 at point “B”. Further, the French dispatcher gave the crew permission to drop from level 370 (11.3 km) to 220 (6.7). At 17:53, the crew at a frequency of 124.7 MHz established communication with a control center in Barcelona and, after reporting on the passage of the Spanish border, received permission to decrease from 220 to 90 (2.74 km) ^[1] .

At 5:57 p.m. on board the plane, they informed about the entrance to the air district of Barcelona, ​​the passage of altitude 160 (4.88 km) and the estimated time of passage of Bergi at 18:01. At 17:59, the crew was instructed to switch to communication with the Barcelona-based dispatcher at a frequency of 119.1 MHz, which was done in a few seconds. The approach manager instructed to make a left turn at a course of 140 °. The crew confirmed the receipt of information and reported the passage of altitude 130 (3.96 km) and the estimated time of passage of the Sabadell point at 18:07. When at 18:00 the dispatcher requested confirmation of the estimate of the passage time of this point, the crew specified that it was counting at 18:05. To this, the dispatcher canceled the turn to the 140 ° course and instructed to keep the direction to Sabadell. At 18:01, the G-APDN reported a passage at an altitude of 100 (3.05 km) and a decrease to 90 (2.74 km), to which the dispatcher asked if the DME aircraft was equipped. The answer was negative, which was instructed to decline to a height of 60 (1830 meters) ^[1] .

At 6:02 p.m., the dispatcher ordered to turn 140 °, which the crew confirmed, reported a passage of altitude 85 (2590 meters) and a decrease to 60. Immediately after that, the dispatcher asked if they had passed Sabadell, to which they replied from the plane: After about 30 seconds . After another 15 seconds, the crew announced the passage of the Sabadell lighthouse, after which the dispatcher replied: radar contact, continue to decrease by 2800 feet [853 meters], altimeter 1017, transition level five zero [1524 meters] ( English radar contact, continue descent to 2,800 feet, altimeter 1017, transition level five zero ). At 18:03, they asked for information about the runway from the board, the dispatcher said that the landing would be on runway 25, in response the crew confirmed receipt of information. At 6:05 p.m., the dispatcher asked at what altitude the plane was, to which they replied with G-APDN that they had walked 4,000 feet (1,219 meters). At 18:07 the dispatcher asked the crew to confirm that they were still on course, but there was no answer. There was no answer to all subsequent calls ^[1] .

As the data from the flight recorder showed, after following the Nantes - Agen - Toulouse - point B route changed by the French dispatcher, the plane did not turn 181 ° at the intersection of corridor UA31, but continued to follow the 193 ° course. When at 17:57 the crew reported the entrance to the area of ​​Barcelona, ​​the plane was 30 kilometers east of the corridor, and the estimated transit time of Bergi was indicated correctly, despite the fact that it was the transit time of Berga, since when it crossed at 18:01: 30 airliner was 26 km to the left of this point and continued to follow the 193 ° course. After the dispatcher instructed him to take the course 140 °, the crew followed this instruction and flew about 4.5 kilometers when, after revising the estimated time of Sabadeli’s passage, the direction for 140 ° was canceled, so the crew turned back to the previous course, which returned at 18 : 02: 18 ^[5] .

At 18:02:30 the dispatcher again instructed to turn left to a course of 140 °, which the crew confirmed and reported the passage of altitude 85. At approximately 18:02:48, the crew, at the request of the dispatcher, reported the passage of the Sabadell point, although it was actually 52 kilometers away . By a tragic coincidence, on the radar screen in the Sabadeli region at that moment, the dispatcher saw the flare that he had taken for this plane. Subsequently, the dispatchers in Barcelona and the representatives of the flying club in Sabadell could not explain the reason for the appearance of this flare. Most likely, it was a plane that performed a PVP flight. Incorrectly identifying the aircraft on the radar, the dispatcher instructed the crew to drop to 2800 feet ^[6] .

The airliner continued to deviate to the east, which could not be explained by a malfunction in the VOR , since a check on the lighthouse conducted on April 2, 1970 did not reveal any significant deviations in its work, especially since if it existed, it would be detected during numerous flights planes flying to Barcelona ^[6] . At 18:05:30, a comet flying in the clouds at a speed of 410 km / h and at a 145 ° course at an altitude of about 3800 feet (1160 meters) crashed into Mount Les Agudes (altitude 1706 meters) of the Montseny ridge ( municipality of Arbucias Girona province) and exploded. The disaster occurred 65 kilometers northwest of Barcelona Airport ^{[7] [8] [9]} . All 112 people on board died ^[4] .

For 17 years of excellent Dan-Air operation, this was the first disaster in the history of the airline ^[10] . Also at the time of the events, it was the largest plane crash in Spain (currently the seventh). The largest disaster in the history of the Comet aircraft ^[11] .

According to a report from the Spanish Ministry of Air Transport, the crew reported incorrect reports on the passage of control points, as well as an echo on the radar screen in the area of ​​Sabadell lighthouse, which coincided with a report from the crew on the passage of this item. This created the opinion of the crew and the dispatcher that the plane was at the Sabadell point, which was an involuntary error on both sides (the dispatcher and the crew), which was not timely corrected ^[12] .

• Report No: 1/1972. Dan Air Comet 4, G-APDN. Report on the accident which occurred in the Sierra del Montseny, in the Municipal District of Arbucias (Gerona), Spain, on 3 July 1970 . Air Accidents Investigation Branch . - translation into English from the original report. Date of treatment December 22, 2013.