British European Airways Flight S200P

British European Airways Flight S200P was a short-haul flight from London-Northolt Airport to Glasgow-Renfrew Airport, Scotland. On 21 April 1948, while on approach to Renfrew, a Vickers VC.1 Viking, registration G-AIVE, crashed into Irish Law Mountain in North Ayrshire, Scotland. No one died in the accident, but 13 of the 20 passengers and crew were injured, and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

British European Airways Flight S200P
Wreckage left in situ after the crash
Accident
Date21 April 1948
SummaryControlled flight into terrain (CFIT)
SiteIrish Law Mountain, North Ayrshire,
Scotland, United Kingdom
55.802825°N 4.784546°W / 55.802825; -4.784546
Aircraft
Aircraft typeVickers 610 Viking 1B
OperatorBritish European Airways
RegistrationG-AIVE
Flight originLondon-Northolt Airport
DestinationGlasgow-Renfrew Airport
Passengers16
Crew4
Fatalities0
Injuries13
Survivors20
This photo, taken in May 2020, shows the leftover wreckage of the fuselage on the slope of Irish Law mountain.

Accident

Flight S200P had taken off at 18:09 GMT (19:09 British Summer Time).[1] After a 1-hour flight, air traffic control at Glasgow-Renfrew cleared it for a standard beam approach into the airport. The last radio contact was at 20:01, when the crew requested confirmation that the outer marker was operative. As the aircraft neared the airport, it hit a hill nose-first and broke into 3 parts; the engine and the left wing also broke off. Although the plane burst into flames, all 20 passengers and crew managed to escape, and all survived. Thirteen people were injured in the accident.[2][3]

Cause

An investigation into the crash found the cause to be pilot error. Failure to receive the outer marker beacon signal (probably due to a fault that had developed in the receiver) was a contributory factor.[2]

Crash site today

Some remnants of G-AIVE remain on the hill at Irish Law Mountain, including the engines, landing gear, and parts of the left and right wings.

References

Notes
  1. Flight 29 April 1948, p. 493.
  2. Flight 18 November 1948, p.596.
  3. "New bid to find Scots survivors of air crash". Evening Times, Glasgow, 11 April 2007. Retrieved 31 January 2010.

Bibliography
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