Portal:London transport/Selected articles/46

BOAC Flight 712 (callsign Speedbird 712) for Monday 8 April 1968 was a British Overseas Airways Corporation service operated by a Boeing 707-465 from London Heathrow Airport bound for Sydney via Zürich Kloten and Singapore. The flight suffered an engine failure at take off that quickly led to a fire in flight before the engine fell from the aircraft. After a flight of 3 minutes and 32 seconds, the flight 712 made a safe emergency landing back at Heathrow.

Once on the ground, confusion over check lists led to an explosion in the port wing whilst the crew were evacuating passengers followed by a major fire which killed five of the 127 on board. The actions taken by those involved in the accident resulted in the award of a George Cross, a British Empire Medal and an MBE. As a direct result of the accident, BOAC changed the check lists for engine severe failures and engine fires, combining them both into one check list. (Full article...)