Stansted Airport History and Nostalgia
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: England
Age: 57
Posts: 77
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Thanks for posting those two incidents up guys. I wasn’t aware of the Air UK one and hadn’t realised that the Leeds Utd football team headline happened at Stansted.
Apart from the BEA Argosy landing accident ending up in someone’s garden, and the Korean Air 747 - are there any other incidents of note that happened at Stansted?
Rob
Apart from the BEA Argosy landing accident ending up in someone’s garden, and the Korean Air 747 - are there any other incidents of note that happened at Stansted?
Rob
Join Date: Oct 2002
Location: UK
Posts: 155
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I think the Monarch 1’11 incident was 1977, I remember seeing it patched up ready to be ferried out. There was also a Uganda 707 that ran off the side of the runway in the snow and sank in the soft ground, apparently one or more of the reverses failed to deploy. The runway was blocked for quite some time. Normally that wouldn’t have caused much chaos, but there were quite a few Gatwick fog diversions there that day, winter 77/78.
I have heard about several other earlier incidents, Lloyd Britannia nose undercarriage collapse, Air Charter York, belly landing, after undercarriage retracted too early during takeoff! There were also a few fatal accidents in the 50’s.
I have heard about several other earlier incidents, Lloyd Britannia nose undercarriage collapse, Air Charter York, belly landing, after undercarriage retracted too early during takeoff! There were also a few fatal accidents in the 50’s.
I can't find my logbook at present, otherwise, I could date the Monarch 1-11 wheels-up. I was doing my recurrent base check (TMAC) that day and we were sharing the circuit with them. All stopped after that as the runway was blocked for a while! Next day, the aeroplane was in the TMAC hangar having been put back on its wheels. The damage looked remarkably slight.
There was a really significant incident when a DC-8, which may have been a Nigerian airline and a Phillipino operator (ACMI?) carried out an approach in very low RVR and on going round, struck the tail of a Flying Tiger DC-8 parked over on the old main apron, where Harrods is now. Late '79 I think. It then diverted to Manchester IIRC.
I believe, the crew were not familiar with the "approach ban" limitations and how they apply in the UK and felt being "cleared for the approach" by ATC gave them the authority to have a look, even though the RVR being reported was below minima. Cue: much revision of the approach ban, its implications and when and where you could continue/were required to break off an approach by all and sundry.
ATEL looked after an Aero Commander (G-ASIO) I flew for a short time. The ATEL chaps were excellent and seemed to like working on the aeroplane. Their hangar was always full of interesting stuff, Tradewinds '44s, itinerant 707s, Turkish Air Force Viscounts, etc.
Happy days!
There was a really significant incident when a DC-8, which may have been a Nigerian airline and a Phillipino operator (ACMI?) carried out an approach in very low RVR and on going round, struck the tail of a Flying Tiger DC-8 parked over on the old main apron, where Harrods is now. Late '79 I think. It then diverted to Manchester IIRC.
I believe, the crew were not familiar with the "approach ban" limitations and how they apply in the UK and felt being "cleared for the approach" by ATC gave them the authority to have a look, even though the RVR being reported was below minima. Cue: much revision of the approach ban, its implications and when and where you could continue/were required to break off an approach by all and sundry.
ATEL looked after an Aero Commander (G-ASIO) I flew for a short time. The ATEL chaps were excellent and seemed to like working on the aeroplane. Their hangar was always full of interesting stuff, Tradewinds '44s, itinerant 707s, Turkish Air Force Viscounts, etc.
Happy days!
Gnome de PPRuNe
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Too close to Croydon for comfort
Age: 60
Posts: 12,589
Received 271 Likes
on
150 Posts
Monarch 1-11 was 27th Feb 1978.
Do recall the DC-8 incident vaguely, but nothing on Aviation Safety...
Ah, here it is...
Do recall the DC-8 incident vaguely, but nothing on Aviation Safety...
Ah, here it is...
Nigeria Airways - its a crate way to travel
Stansted was the scene of an interesting political incident in 1984 when Umaru Dikko, a Nigerian politician, was kidnapped in London. He was located at the airport in a crate together with a medic having been drugged just before being loaded on to a Nigerian Airlines 707. Needless to say diplomatic relations between UK and Nigeria were a tad strained in the next couple of years. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obi...-obituary.html
My first time through must have been 1978, on of all things a BA 747 inbound from Los Angeles. There was a strike in progress at Heathrow, and we landed not to disembark but to reprovision some aspect (not fuel) before continuing after about an hour. The only other aircraft visible I recall was a Ugandan cargo 707 sat in a corner.
Should have been flying out of there yesterday morning as well, but that trip has been lost ...
Should have been flying out of there yesterday morning as well, but that trip has been lost ...
Thread Starter
As a student in the summers of 1986/87/88, I worked at the Regent Palace Hotel, in Piccadilly, as a hall porter. Our sundays were completely taken up with the storage of departing Scandinavian's bags, left with us whilst the guests enjoyed a final day in London, before an evening flight home. I still have one of the colourful Spies tags somewhere,and remember the flight numbers being for Scanair and Conair flights to Gothenberg, Stockholm and Copenhagen. As a further aside, as a 5 year old in snowy January 1971, my parents treated me to a mini cruise on Tor Line, aboard the 'leaping' Leda, from Newcastle to Bergen and Stavanger. Fond fond memories!
The LEDA was completed in 1953 by Swan Hunters, Tyneside for the Norwegian company Bergen Line for service between Bergen, Stavanger and Newcastle.
Withdrawn from service in 1973 and sold to Saudi Arabia as a pilgrim ship. Sold again in 1983 and converted into a cruise ship. After several owner's and names she was eventually scrapped in 2002.
The Swedish company Tor Line was formed in 1964 with operations commencing in 1966 between Immingham and Gothenburg with the TOR HOLLANDIA.
Last edited by Sotonsean; 30th Mar 2020 at 16:02.
Thread Starter
Thanks for posting those two incidents up guys. I wasn’t aware of the Air UK one and hadn’t realised that the Leeds Utd football team headline happened at Stansted.
Apart from the BEA Argosy landing accident ending up in someone’s garden, and the Korean Air 747 - are there any other incidents of note that happened at Stansted?
Rob
Apart from the BEA Argosy landing accident ending up in someone’s garden, and the Korean Air 747 - are there any other incidents of note that happened at Stansted?
Rob
I have tried to search online for a link to the story but I couldn't find anything related to the incident but I'm sure that I had previously read about it somewhere online.
A similar incident with a British Airtours Boeing 707-436 also occurred at Prestwick Airport during the seventies.
Gnome de PPRuNe
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Too close to Croydon for comfort
Age: 60
Posts: 12,589
Received 271 Likes
on
150 Posts
I do recall that a British Airtours/British Airways Boeing 707-436 whilst on crew training at London Stansted Airport during the seventies crashed whilst attempting a touch and go. The aircraft belly flopped onto the runway and caught fire.
Thread Starter
That was G-APFK at Prestwick in March 1977.
I was 16 in 1983 and desperate for an apprenticeship but all the airlines still had training programs frozen from the recession of the time. I applied to ATEL and although they couldn't offer me a place they extended an invite to come down (I lived in Lancashire) and have a look around. The old boy who ran their training department was a welcome host and me & my dad spent a few hours at H4 (?). I remember a ZAS 707F in for a check and the floor was rotten from camel piss. I loved all the 4-holers that we didn't get to see at MAN. The place was eerily quiet compared to MAN but had a great day out. Also had my first experience of Abbot Ale in the pub in the village (sorry occifer, only time I ever drank under-age....).
Gnome de PPRuNe
Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Too close to Croydon for comfort
Age: 60
Posts: 12,589
Received 271 Likes
on
150 Posts
Think BEA had an Argosy crew training prang at Stansted in the late '60s.
Thread Starter
If it did, (a) they kept it very quiet and (b) repaired the aircraft. The only BA/Airtours -436 loss was the one at Prestwick.
Thread Starter
But if you've read my posts on this thread your notice that I do have a very good memory and although I can't add anything further at this time I'm quite certain of an event of some kind involving a B707 at London Stansted Airport sometime during the seventies.
The similarity of the incident that I'm thinking of at London Stansted to the one at Prestwick is where I might have imagined it being a KT Boeing 707-436.
But we all live and learn throughout our lives even if we do think that we already know it all but I look forward to someone bringing up a story regarding some sort of incident at London Stansted Airport during the seventies but I'm grown up enough to be informed otherwise.
If it's totally proven wrong and instead it's just a figment of my imagination I can thereby ommmit it from my memory 😉
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: England
Age: 57
Posts: 77
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Wyvernfan
This is probably as good a list of incidents as any:
https://aviation-safety.net/database...ort.php?id=STN
This is probably as good a list of incidents as any:
https://aviation-safety.net/database...ort.php?id=STN
Thanks also to everyone’s else’s contributions, fascinating stuff!
Rob
Last edited by Wyvernfan; 30th Mar 2020 at 17:19.
