It was pretty violently destroyed along with a Swissair Convair and a TWA 707. I very much doubt if there was much salvageable, if anything. Unlike the VC10 destroyed at Amsterdam where the tailplane was recovered and allowed a rotation around the fleet for repairs as cracks were affecting the tailplane screwjacks.
Now someone will say that was totally wrong.
I flew with the Captain of the Jordan one, an absolute gentleman of the old school called Cyril Goulbourn. He described the sheer violence of the hijack and the crew and passengers subsequent travails in the middle of a civil war in Jordan. Fascinating and sobering saga that went on for about 10 days.
So, we lost 2 BOAC VC10s to hijacking. One at Kano, one at Addis. One quite badly bent over the Andes....... I was not involved!
You've got me going now! I was lying in bed on standby one Sunday morning when I was called out for a 'test flight'. So off we went over Anglia in a VC10 just off maintenance. There followed 4 hours of sheer terror. Maximum speed extension of everything, but what really got my goat was stalls....to stick push. Bearing in mind the superstall incidents with BAC 1-11 and Trident were not that far in the past, watching an angle of attack gauge creep up to 15 degrees, then start twitching, then jump to 17 degrees (I gather if it jumped over 17 degrees, you were living dead) with speed below 95 kts on a 4 engine jet, accompanied by stick push and horns and panoramic view of Anglia was not my idea of an enjoyable Sunday morning which was lying in bed with the Mrs (awful woman, she preferred Boeing pilots), the Sunday Times and mug of tea. I was absolutely bloody petrified, and resolved never to continue my short, and very unpopular 'test flying' career. The horror still comes back after over 30 years. In fact I was complaining bitterly afterwards that this was no occupation for a new father who fancied watching his children grow up and under no circumstances was I ever doing that again! Respect to test pilots, but not for me! I'm a coward through and through- which makes me a superb pilot (well Mum thought so anyway).
Last edited by Rainboe; 7th September 2008 at 11:59.