Travel back in time with the Viscount
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England
G-ANHF - British European Airways Corporation (BEA) - July 1955 to August 1962
Delivered new to British European Airways (BEA) named 'R M A Matthew Flinders'. Taken at Ciampino Airport, Rome, Italy in July 1955 not long after it was delivered. Passengers are about to board for the service to London including Bob and his parents. An unforgettable flight according to Bob. Note the lack of a ventral cabin air intake on this aircraft which also applied to G-AOFX (C/N 182). Also note the Decca 'sharks fin' navigation aerial on the tail which was soon removed. The aircraft behind is a BEA Airspeed Ambassador marketed by BEA as the 'Elizabethan' class.
Photo source - Bob Colgan
Aircraft Summary
British European Airways Corporation (BEA)
This aircraft c/n 66, a V.701C, was built for British European Airways Corporation (BEA) as G-ANHF and first flew on Monday, 4 July 1955 at Hurn, Bournemouth, Hampshire, England.
Its final owner/operator was Viação Aérea São Paulo SA (VASP) as PP-SRR.Its fate:-
Crashed at Friburgo near the summit of Mount Nova Caledonia, Brasil at an altitude of 6,500 feet on approach to Rio de Janeiro, Brasil 4 September 1964.
The flight had taken off from Goiabeiras Airport, Vitoria, Brasil at 18:45 GMT and climbed to 1,800 metres. At 19:33 the crew reported over Rio Bonito in instrument meteorological conditions. At this point the aircraft was actually near Nova Friburgo, 43 km from Rio Bonito. The aircraft crashed into the west slope of Pico da Caledonia at about 1,950 metres. The crash site was 35 km off the intended route.
The subsequent investigation could not establish why the aircraft was so far off course.