Interesting history of De Havilland. The Comet 1 was not only designed and manufactured by them, but it's jet engines were their own as well. Given that jet engines were a brand-new technology, and that it was the first pressurised aircraft designed in Europe, it was an amazing coming-together of aspects for what was still essentially a family business run by aviation-lifer Sir Geoffrey De Havilland, which did everything in aviation normally done by separate substantial businesses - they even did aircraft propellers (the Vickers Vanguard had those big, thundering De Havilland props). His two sons were chief test pilots for the company, both unfortunately killed in separate accidents. De Havilland had continued developing wooden-framed aircraft well after other mainstream manufacturers, and some of their other products, had switched to all-metal.
The metal fatigue accidents were only some of the early Comet 1 losses, there were a number of others. Takeoff characteristics were iffy to say the least, and among other crashes was the loss of the first Canadian Pacific aircraft at Karachi, actually on its delivery run, which claimed the lives of the senior CP execs involved in the purchase and introduction of the aircraft, who had just handed the cheque over for it. In less than two years from introduction, 5 of BOAC's pioneer fleet of 10 had been lost in accidents, and their first jet services had already been curtailed as a result. When grounded in 1954 a very large number of follow-on aircraft orders were part-completed, and had to be abandoned. What seems extraordinary nowadays is how the company managed to survive financially after all this.