1956 Scottish Airlines Malta air disaster

The 1956 Scottish Airlines Malta air disaster was an air accident that happened on 18 February 1956. A Scottish Airlines Avro York crashed after takeoff from RAF Luqa in Malta on a trooping flight from the Suez Canal Zone to London Stansted Airport.[1][2] The disaster killed all 50 passengers and crew on board the aircraft; all passengers except one (a British Army private) were Royal Air Force personnel.[2]

1956 Scottish Airlines Malta air disaster
An Avro York of Scottish Airlines similar that involved in the accident
Occurrence
Date18 February 1956
SummaryPilot error
SiteNear Zurrieq, Malta
Aircraft typeAvro York
OperatorScottish Airlines
RegistrationG-ANSY
Flight originRAF Luqa, Malta
DestinationLondon Stansted Airport, United Kingdom
Passengers45
Crew5
Fatalities50
Survivors0
Memorial of the accident in Zurrieq

Accident

The accident happened on 18 February 1956 when the Avro York, registration G-ANSY, took off from Malta International Airport at 12:21 UTC time on a flight to London Stansted Airport with 45 passengers and five crew aboard. Shortly after becoming airborne, the boost enrichment capsule in the carburetor of the number one engine failed, and the engine caught fire. The pilots failed to feather the propeller as the aircraft slowly climbed to 700–800 feet; they then made a left turn to return to the airport. Shortly after retracting the flaps, the aircraft went into a nose-up attitude at very low speed. This resulted in a stall, which caused the aircraft to enter an unrecoverable dive. It crashed into the ground near Zurrieq, Malta, killing all 50 passengers and crew on board.[3]

Cause

The reported mechanical cause was failure of the number one engine. However, this was compounded by a loss of speed and consequent loss of control through pilot error.

References
  1. "50 Killed in Air Crash. Scots Among Victims". The Glasgow Herald. 20 February 1956. p. 8. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  2. "50 Killed In Malta Crash." Times [London, England] 20 Feb. 1956: 6. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 20 Jan. 2016.
  3. Testa, Michael (18 February 2006). "Crash that killed 50". Times of Malta. Retrieved 24 July 2017.

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