harrym, a narrow squeak indeed! Bulk deliveries seem to be a constant weakness in many on site safety systems, witness the Camelford incident contaminating drinking water with 20 tonnes of Aluminium Sulphate in 1988. It also reminds me of the Ernest K Gann incident in Fate is the Hunter. One after the other of his engines quit immediately after take off, bar one. Turning back so that this engine is outboard of the turn, he somehow gets the aircraft back onto a cross-wind runway, shuts down, and signing off the aircraft snags the three failed engines. A technician approaches, not aware of the foregoing drama, and thinking him about to depart apologetically informs him that though they have fitted new design spark plugs to three of his engines they had insufficient for all four...
Ormeside, thanks for yet more of your nautical reminiscences. It seems from what you say that UK Maritime Air was in good hands in those early Post-War years. Would that it were still today!
Danny, Air Officers should simply be pax in large aircraft and never operating crew. If there were weaknesses at ground level then they were also airborne as well at Heathrow on that fateful day. Until they weren't of course...
Last edited by Chugalug2; 1st Jun 2017 at 09:53.
Reason: Wrong year