26 April 2024
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Viscount Survivors


59 of the 444 Viscounts built survive as complete airframes or major components. Some are in very good condition and are looked after by museums while others are just wrecks. They can be found in 24 countries.

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Established 2005
Vickers Viscount Network
A Virtual Museum dedicated to the Vickers-Armstrongs VC2 Viscount
   

Viscount c/n 176

Operational Record

Photo of Viscount c/n 176
Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. (KLM)


Netherlands flag Netherlands

This V.803 series Viscount was built for
Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. (KLM) as PH-VIE

It first flew on Wednesday, 11 September 1957 at Weybridge, Surrey, England powered by Rolls-Royce Dart 510 engines.


Photo of Viscount c/n 176
Aer Lingus - Irish International Airlines


Ireland flag Ireland

Its final owner/operator was
Aer Lingus - Irish International Airlines as EI-AOF.

Its fate:-
Crashed at Ballymadun, two miles north of Ashbourne, County Meath, near Dublin, Ireland 22 June 1967 during a training flight, sadly killing all three flight crew.


Operational record
Photo of Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. (KLM) Viscount PH-VIE

Country of Registration Netherlands

October 1957 to November 1965

Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. (KLM)

PH-VIE - c/n 176 - a V.803 series Viscount
Netherlands registered

June 1955
An order for nine Type 803 was placed by Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. (KLM).

This was the 5th aircraft for KLM.

Production Aircraft No. 32 - the 32nd production 800 series Viscount built,
was the 27th 800 series Viscount fuselage assembled at Hurn, Bournemouth, Hampshire, England,
and the 32nd 800 series Viscount assembled at Weybridge, Surrey, England.

Production Order No. F05/803. Sales Order No. F05/83B. Stock Order No. F27/27B.

27 February 1957
Fuselage assembly commenced at Hurn Airport, Bournemouth, Dorset, England.

April 1957
Fuselage transported by road from Hurn Airport, Bournemouth, Hampshire, England to Weybridge, Surrey, England.

24 April 1957
Fuselage to Erecting Shop 'E' at Weybridge, Surrey, England.

11 September 1957
First flight from Brooklands Airfield, Weybridge, Surrey, England.

It landed at Wisley Airfield, Surrey, England for fitting out and test flying.

14 October 1957
Noted at Blackbushe Airport, Hampshire, England carrying out ILS approaches.

19 October 1957
Delivered to Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. (KLM) named as 'Jan Olieslagers' via London Airport (Heathrow), Middlesex, England with a 53 seat mixed-class cabin.

The original livery had ‘The Flying Dutchman’ titles on the port side and ‘De Vliegende Hollander’ titles on the starboard side.

The cabin seating was later increased to 59/64 all-tourist class configuration.

November 1959
Noted with 40th Anniversary of KLM (1919 to 1959) logo on the rear fuselage.

Painted in the new KLM 'horizontal blue striped tail' livery.
KLM
'Horizontal Striped Tail' livery

circa 1960
Painted in the new KLM 'diagonal striped tail' livery with ‘KLM - Royal Dutch Airlines’ titles.

This aircraft had been repainted before the August 1960 landing incident (see below).

16 August 1960
Overran the runway on landing at Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam, Netherlands with minimal damage to the aircraft. Captain F H H Vianen had landed long and was unable to stop before the end of the runway was reached and ran off onto the grass for approximately 160 metres. The other crew on board were First Officer A Cortel, Steward G ter Horst and Purser A C H Raaymakers. There were no injuries to the passengers or crew.

20 January 1964
Noted at Gatwick Airport, Surrey, England due to a London Airport (Heathrow) weather diversion. The passengers were transferred to London by coach.

June 1965
Noted painted in the new KLM 'horizontal striped tail' livery.

8 July 1965
Noted at Renfrew Airport, Glasgow, Scotland operating on behalf of Aer Lingus with the following inscription under the cockpit window on the port side: - 'In charter to Aer Lingus Irish International Airlines'.

It arrived from Dublin at 1513 hours and departed back to Dublin at 1558 hours.

Also see PH-VIF (C/N 177) for another instance of this event.

2 November 1965
Ferried from Schiphol Airport, Amsterdam, Netherlands to Prestwick Airport, Ayrshire, Scotland for the installation of a weather radar system and a repaint in Aer Lingus livery by Scottish Aviation Ltd (SAL).

8 November 1965
Registration cancelled.

8 November 1965
Sold to Aer Lingus.


Photo of Aer Lingus - Irish International Airlines Viscount EI-AOF

Country of Registration Ireland

November 1965 to June 1967

Aer Lingus - Irish International Airlines

EI-AOF - c/n 176 - a V.803 series Viscount
Ireland registered

8 November 1965
Purchased from Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. (KLM).

3 December 1965
Registered to Aer Lingus.

24 February 1966
Delivered to Aer Lingus from Prestwick Airport, Ayrshire, Scotland named as 'St Cathal'.

Scottish Aviation Ltd (SAL) had installed a weather radar system and repainted it in Aer Lingus livery.

Early 1967
The cabin was converted to 65/66 seats.

22 June 1967
Crashed during a training flight at Ballymadun, two miles north of Ashbourne, County Meath, near Dublin, Ireland.

Sadly Captain Hugh O'Keeffe aged 37 and two trainee pilots, Rory Liam De Paor aged 20 and John T G Kavanagh aged 19 were all sadly killed.

The aircraft was seen to enter a vertical dive at a low altitude without recovery and it crashed inverted into a wheat field and caught fire.

The cause of the crash was not established with two options were put forward: -

The aircraft entered an unintentional stall and/or spin during the time a trainee pilot was in control and that the training captain could not recover control, or that the training captain became incapacitated in some way and the trainee pilot then lost control. Part of the recommendations for training flights was that a second qualified pilot be in attendance.

Total time 17,234 hours and 15,346 total landings.

FURTHER READING: Books about Aer Lingus



Photo of BEA - British European Airways Viscount G-AOJC

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