January 1953 to January 1960
British European Airways Corporation (BEA)
G-AMNY - c/n 6 - a V.701 series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
15 January 1953
Registered to British European Airways Corporation (BEA), Keyline House, Ruislip, Middlesex.
16 February 1953
Certificate of Airworthiness (CofA) issued.
20 February 1953
Delivered to British European Airways (BEA) named as 'R M A Sir Ernest Shackleton'.
It was fitted with Rolls-Royce Dart RDa3 Mark 505 engines.
The cabin was originally fitted out with 40 seats in a four-abreast (2 + 2) all-first class interior, but it was re-configured as a 47 seat all-tourist class layout before it entered service.
2 March 1953
Operated a route proving flight from London Airport (Heathrow) to Kloten Airport, Zurich, Switzerland.
18 April 1953
Inaugurated the world’s first scheduled turboprop passenger service, flying from London Airport (Heathrow), Middlesex, England to Nicosia Airport, Cyprus, via Ciampino Airport, Rome, Italy and Ellinikon Airport, Athens, Greece, flown by Captains A S Johnson and A Wilson. The Athens to Nicosia sector was operated as a Cyprus Airways flight.
1 June 1953
Broke the record for the London Airport (Heathrow), Middlesex, England service to Cointrin Airport, Geneva, Switzerland, flown by Captain Wylie James Wakelin which took 92 minutes to cover the 467.8 miles at an average speed of 305.5 mph. The record was previously held by a Swissair Convair 440.
21 August 1953
Ferried to Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft) Ltd at Wisley Airfield, Surrey, England for modification work.
27 September 1953
Returned to BEA at London Airport (Heathrow), Middlesex, England.
6 October 1953
Operated the first Viscount service from London Airport (Heathrow), Middlesex, England to Milan, Italy flown by Captain J Monro with 37 passengers.
1954 to 1962
The original ‘cutlass’ design propeller blades were gradually replaced by new symmetrical ‘needle’ blade propeller sets.
From photographic evidence, both propeller types were fitted to Rolls-Royce Dart RDa3, Mark 505 and Mark 506 engines and many aircraft flew with an ‘intermix’ of both types of propeller blades.
24 May 1954
Ferried to Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft) Ltd at Wisley Airfield, Surrey, England for modification work.
2 June 1954
Returned to London Airport (Heathrow), Middlesex, England.
31 March 1955
Ferried to Marshall's at Teversham Airport, Cambridge, England for modification work.
27 April 1955
Returned to BEA at London Airport (Heathrow), Middlesex, England.
May 1955 to December 1956
All BEA Type 701 aircraft were gradually retrofitted with Rolls-Royce Dart RDa3 Mark 506 engines which were upgraded using modified Mark 505 engines.
Aircraft are known to have flown with an ‘intermix’ of both engine marks between these dates.
When completely retro-fitted with Mark 506 engines, the Type 701A designation was applied to these aircraft although this has not been seen widely used or quoted.
19 November 1955
Ferried to Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft) Ltd at Wisley Airfield, Surrey, England for special checks.
26 November 1955
Returned to BEA at London Airport (Heathrow), Middlesex, England.
3 August 1956
During a flight from London Airport (Heathrow), Middlesex, England to Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam, Netherlands a near-miss was reported with a Percival Proctor near Schiphol.
28 December 1955
Ferried to Marshall's at Teversham Airport, Cambridge, England for modification work.
29 February 1956
Returned to BEA at London Airport (Heathrow), Middlesex, England.
March 1957
Ferried to Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft) Ltd at Wisley Airfield, Surrey, England for flap modifications and strain gauge tests.
17 April 1957
Returned to BEA at London Airport (Heathrow), Middlesex, England.
14 April 1958
Struck trees and power cables during a landing at Ciampino Airport, Milan, Italy due to turbulent conditions.
18 April 1958
Ferried back to London Airport (Heathrow), Middlesex, England on three engines for further repair work.
23 December 1958
Noted at Gatwick Airport, Surrey, England due to a London Airport (Heathrow) weather diversion.
31 December 1958
Noted at Blackbushe Airport, Hampshire, England carrying out crew training flights.
March 1959
A new BEA 'Red Square' livery was adopted and aircraft were repainted during the early 1960s when they next went in for overhaul.
This aircraft was written off before it was repainted.
5 January 1960
Damaged beyond economic repair after crashing into the control tower at Luqa Airport, Malta due to brake and nosewheel steering failure.
The Viscount was taxiing along the runway after landing when a hydraulic system pressure loss occurred.
Wheel brakes and nosewheel steering were inoperative and the aircraft left the runway, rolling down an area of downslope.
Because of the hydraulic system pressure loss an attempt by the pilot to raise the undercarriage failed.
The aircraft crashed into the control tower. The cockpit and nose was badly crushed and the fuselage broke open forward of the wing leading edge.
Investigation revealed a fractured pipe line and a faulty operation of a non-return valve intended to conserve pressure if there was a break in the main hydraulic system.
There were no reported injuries to the 46 passengers and 5 crew on board.
Total time 12,709 hours and 6,544 total landings.
15 January 1960
Registration cancelled as aircraft written off.
21 January 1960
Officially written off by the insurers as beyond economic repair.
Broken up for scrap locally after spares recovery.
The radio equipment was stolen while the aircraft was stored awaiting disposal.
This aircraft was replaced in the BEA fleet by the lease of Viscount G-APZP (C/N 250) from Fred Olsen Flyselskap A/S.
 FURTHER READING: Books about BEA - British European Airways
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