October 1954 to October 1958
British European Airways Corporation (BEA)
G-ANHC - c/n 63 - a V.701C series Viscount
United Kingdom registered
25 October 1954
Registered to British European Airways Corporation (BEA), Bealine House, Ruislip, Middlesex.
1 December 1954
First flight from Hurn Airport, Bournemouth, Hampshire, England.
19 December 1954
Certificate of Airworthiness issued.
19 December 1954
Delivered to British European Airways (BEA) named as 'R M A Sir Leopold McClintock'.
Francis Leopold McClintock was nicknamed 'The Arctic Fox' after his expedition in search of Sir John Franklin, who died during a voyage in 1847 in search of the illusive North West Passage.
It was fitted with Rolls-Royce Dart RDa3 Mark 506 engines and designated as a Type 701C.
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.
23 April 1956
This aircraft was used to carry Soviet premier Nikita Krushchev and Marshal Bulganin from London Airport (Heathrow), Middlesex, England to City of Birmingham Airport, Elmdon, West Midlands, England and then on to RAF Marham, Norfolk, England.
26 April 1956
This aircraft was used to carry Soviet premier Nikita Krushchev and Marshal Bulganin from London Airport (Heathrow), Middlesex, England to Turnhouse Airport, Edinburgh, Scotland.
18 June 1956
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, Princess Margaret and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester all flew from Bromma Airport, Stockholm, Sweden to London Airport (Heathrow), Middlesex, England at the conclusion of a Royal visit to Sweden.
This was the first Viscount to carry HM Queen Elizabeth II.
22 October 1958
Crashed after a mid-air collision with Italian Air Force Canadair built F-86E Sabre fighter MM19830 at 23,500 feet above Nettuno, a small fishing village near Anzio, Italy, during flight BE142 from London Airport (Heathrow), Middlesex, England to Luqa Airport, Malta via Capodichino Airport, Naples, Italy. All 26 passengers and 5 crew sadly died in the accident.
The fighter pilot from Practica di Mare airbase, Captain Giovanni Savorelli survived after he was thrown out of his aircraft and luckily his parachute opened uncommanded. He was found injured, hanging in a tree. Three other F-86Es in the same formation landed safely.
The accident was attributed to an 'Act of God', since neither of the pilots saw the other aircraft before they collided.
A contributory cause of the accident was the deviation of the Viscount from the airway which placed it in a prohibited area reserved for military activities.
11 November 1958
Registration cancelled as aircraft destroyed.
Total time 9,110 hours and 4,555 total landings.
On 21 April 2006 the memorial stone was unveilled
21 April 2006
A memorial stone was unveilled near the crash site.
The stone is in the shape of a Viscount tail and has the aircraft registration G-ANHC on it, and on the base is a list of the names of all those on board.
The memorial was designed by Terry Bannon whose Father, Radio Officer James Bannon was on board this ill-fated flight. Terry also negotiated with the local authorities to gain permission to erect this memorial and they were very helpful and sympathetic.
Access to the memorial is often restricted as it lies within a military base used for testing weapons.
50th Anniversary
25 October 2008
Relatives, friends and local officials gathered at the memorial stone to pay their respects to those lost in this tragic accident.
Special 50th Anniversary plaques made by Terry Bannon were presented to the local officials by Terry's wife Nuala.
FURTHER READING: Books about BEA - British European Airways
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