BOAC Flight 115

BOAC Flight 115 was a scheduled passenger flight from Heathrow Airport to Palmietfontein Airport in Johannesburg with several intermediate stops. On 26 October 1952, Flight 115 ran off the runway on takeoff at Ciampino Airport in Rome but all 43 on board survived. It was the first hull-loss of a Comet.

BOAC Flight 115

G-ALYZ in Entebbe Airport in Uganda a few weeks before the crash.
Accident
Date	26 October 1952
Summary	Pilot error, runway excursion on takeoff
Site	Rome Ciampino Airport, Rome, Italy
Aircraft
Aircraft type	de Havilland Comet 1A
Operator	BOAC
Registration	G-ALYZ
Flight origin	Heathrow Airport, London
1st stopover	Rome Ciampino Airport, Rome, Italy
Last stopover	Cairo International Airport, Cairo, Egypt
Destination	Palmietfontein Airport, Johannesburg, South Africa
Occupants	43
Passengers	35
Crew	8
Fatalities	0
Survivors	43

Background

In 1949 the de Havilland Comet was the first passenger jet to fly and revenue service began in May of 1952, 6 months before the accident. G-ALYZ was a Comet 1A and the fifth Comet produced for the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC). It was en route from London to Johannesburg with stops in Rome and Cairo. 35 people boarded the plane heading to Cairo with 2 captains, 1 engineer and 1 navigator with 4 cabin crew.

Crash

Flight 115 was operating a regular passenger service from London to Johannesburg. At the Rome airport the aircraft taxied to Runway 16, and then the aircraft began takeoff for the second leg to Cairo. The pilot rotated the nose at a speed of 75-80 knots and then at a speed of 112 knots he pulled back further on the control column to lift the airplane into the air. As the airplane reached an appropriate height in the air the captain called for the landing gear to be raised but the left wing suddenly dropped however control was quickly regained. The aircraft began to shake and the pilot thought the aircraft was beginning to stall, but despite two corrective actions of the control column, the shaking continued. Before the first officer had had time to raise the landing gear, the aircraft came down on the landing gear wheels and bounced. The pilot then realized that the aircraft's speed was not increasing and thought it was caused by loss of engine thrust. He was also aware that the aircraft was quickly approaching the end of the runway so the pilot abandoned the takeoff. The aircraft was moving too fast to stop on the runway and when it overran the end of the runway the aircraft struck an earthen mound and slid for 270 yd (810 ft), breaking off the landing gear and suffering severe damage. Despite a large fuel spill, no fire resulted. The only injuries reported were one passenger with a cut finger and one with slight shock.

Cause

The cause of the crash was pilot input of an excessive nose-up command during the takeoff which lead to a stall. The after-accident report noted that the manufacturer's handbook included a caution in its description of the take off procedure, saying, "... care should be taken not to overdo [the nose up] with a consequent poor acceleration."