G-AOVD was a Bristol Britannia 312 operated by BOAC that crashed near Christchurch, Dorset, in the south of England on Christmas Eve 1958, killing 2 of the 5 crew and all 7 passengers.
The aircraft departed London Heathrow Airport at 10:10 am on a test flight to renew its certificate of airworthiness with 12 persons aboard including 5 crew. After completing the test, at approximately 11:55 am, the crew requested clearance to descend from 12,000 f...
more
G-AOVD was a Bristol Britannia 312 operated by BOAC that crashed near Christchurch, Dorset, in the south of England on Christmas Eve 1958, killing 2 of the 5 crew and all 7 passengers.
The aircraft departed London Heathrow Airport at 10:10 am on a test flight to renew its certificate of airworthiness with 12 persons aboard including 5 crew. After completing the test, at approximately 11:55 am, the crew requested clearance to descend from 12,000 feet to 3,000 feet for approach to Hurn Airport, possibly as an alternate destination due to poor weather at Heathrow. Approximately 3 minutes later, at 11:58am, Hurn Airport lost contact with the aircraft as it struck the ground, crossing a road into a ploughed field, bringing down telephone lines and trees and alerting residents in the nearby villages. Upon realising they had lost contact with the aircraft, the controller at Hurn contacted the emergency services giving the last known position before contact was lost. Likewise the residents of...
less
