Have already pointed out that BEA's decision to downsize the Trident destroyed its commercial potential.
Ah yes! the wing cracks.
Have a vivid memory of boarding my aeroplane at Heathrow to find the passengers had all been issued with the Evening Standard - bearing banner headlines about wing cracks on Tridents. Felt I had to say somehing.
"Ladies and gentlemen, you will have read in your paper that the wings might be about to fall off this aeroplane at any moment. If that were indeed the case, you can rest assured that neither myself nor any member of the crew would be on board".
Round about the same time a B707 freighter plummeted into Africa when the tail fell off. There was barely a mention of that in the British media as only the 3 crew were killed.
And of course Americans rarely indulge in that self-flagellation the British are so good at - and of which Shaggy Sheep driver is clearly such a skilled exponent.