Staines, UK 1972, June 18th.
 

Today is the 50th anniversary, a service will be held at the local church, and a further re dedication of the memorial at the site nearby.
There is no other suitable section on pprune to recognise this event. The mention of the aircraft or call sign is not accepted here.

Here is a link to the Pathe news report in the immediate aftermath of the accident
https://www.britishpathe.com/video/V...-AFTER-TRIDENT

Saw the smoke from my room in the top floor of Chelsea College Hall of Residence ........

I was lucky
 

As I was on afternoon airport standy whilst P2 was on earlies.We had been together since being paired up on advance flight; but what happened afterwards changed my career forever.
Pity the National Geogaphic program continued to fudge the truth.

The only reference on BBC appears as a local new item, not on the main channel.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-surrey-61822837

FYI I was driving alongside the northern runway when the aircraft departed, and when I arrived at the Crooked Billet was diverted away.
in 2003 I wrote to BA, BAA, Spelthorne council and Thames water, as there was no memorial, and in 2004 the memorial was established.

I lived near Simon Ticehurst's parents when it happened and saw the devastating effects that that accident had on them. Not only from the loss of their son but also from the public controversy afterwards. The ripples that spread out amongst the relatives and friends of those who die in such events spread far and wide and should never be underestimated.

And this makes for very sober reading:- http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/w...00/3001756.stm

There's a long article on Wiki here: British European Airways Flight 548 - Wikipedia

My late father was an early arrival on the scene. He was a serving Met Police dog handler, and was on duty in plain clothes patrol, along with another dog handler, in the grassed area between KGV and Wraysbury reservoirs as part of the security patrols in place at the time of the Army anti-terrorist patrols when intel indicated the IRA had acquired some RPG's and might try and take down an airliner on take off or landing at Heathrow. There was a fair number of Army personal around the airport at that time.
The aircraft passed almost over my Dad's head about 15-20secs before it impacted, and he guessed it had crashed beyond by the instant silence, and he and the other handler, made their way back to where they had parked their cars to put the dogs away by which time sirens etc., drew them to the direction of the scene. It was sadly the 2nd air crash scene he had to attend during his 30 years service, the first being the crash of the Viking into houses of Kelvin Gardens in 1958.

At the time o was residing in the Eastern end of Staines ( now on Thames ) neat the Crooked Billet ( now gone ) and iirc we were on a walk through the park backs to where the accident occurred and heard but not seen the crash. .Within 20 minutes the area was swarming with blue lights .. then the smell of unburnt fuel hit us. Never to be forgotten ..
Always even now look over from the Southbound M25 when passing the A30 junction towards the power pylon

I lived in Stanwell Village at the time and should have been playing cricket but had a summer cold. Miserable day. Phone rings, my father from work BEA Maintrol . He never rang from work as it was always a busy job he just said Oh just seeing how you all are . When he got home he said they had a flash message from LHR Tower that a plane had reposted crashed just south of Heathrow. In fact we were way off track but who knows what might happen with a plane in trouble. My sister was in Staines High Street and heard and felt an almighty thud, she was probably on 150-200 meters from it. Stanwell was a BEA/BOAc / LHR company town , Opposite neighbours Airport Fire Service and sister at Ashford Hospital next door but one Staines Police Sergeant.
Everyone knew someone connected with it . Later in week I saw the accident site itself , very moving because the plane was more or less intact with the tail section broken off.

Not a day I wiil l forget

Long and detailed thread from 10 years ago, worth a read: G-ARPI - The Trident Tragedy: 40 years ago today

Stoke Poges hospital
 

My wife was nursing there and the staff was put on standby for multiple casualties..she rang home to see if it was me when they discovered there were few survivors as I often went in early ..thrilled to be a second officer even if I wasn't fully trained or trusted.
As Bergerie stated about the families..Jerry's destroyed...sister emigrated, mother became an alcoholic then had a stroke whilst his dad,who had been shot down during the battle of Britain whilst on a one way trip to bomb Berlin, was just sad. The question I was always asked by Dorothy "did Jeremy kill all of those people".
I wonder how those responsible were able to sleep at night along side those who facilitated the cover up.

I worked for Smiths Industries from 1971 till 1979 and when PI crashed the Management in the Aviation Section were like Headless Chickens until the cause of the accident was known i started my own airline Career in October 1979.

blind_pew,
I understand it's a subject full of nasty memories, but you've opened it up for discussion. I have just read the Wikipedia story about the accident. What happened, do you mean?

Have I missed something, or have papers that were to be secret for 50 years been released today?

The papers were actually released very quietly in 2006

For years I thought it had happened while I was in the UK, but more recently realised I was actually still in Kenya at the time, aged 8. My mother encouraged me to read as much of the paper as possible every day from probably aged 5 or so to improve my reading skills, so it must have had extensive coverage in the East African Standard as I do recall it. Just a couple of months after the Addis EAA VC-10 crash which claimed the life of a family friend which I also remember reading about in the paper at time. (Parents never hid bad news stories from me - got ballocked by sister for mentioning Shuttle Challenger crash in front of her children when they were 5 and 2, which I was somewhat non-plussed by as I doubt they had any inkling of what I was talking about...! )

172
 

Not at all, just look at what's going on in Ukraine or with the health service and even the 737 max debacle.
I'm lucky and far better men than me haven't been as fortunate especially those in the war.
I've had 55 years of flying plus two paragliding flights today in spite of the heat wave. (39,C).

It would be classed as a training accident nowadays basically caused by ignoring the manufacturers operating recommendations and introducing an ill conceved and ridiculous, inefficient noise abatement procedure.
The warning signs were ignored just as they had been prior to the Munich disaster.
P2 was not qualified, the captain was unfit and everything was wrong with the company stall procedures in practice including an absence of one which was hastily written, back dated issued to all pilots after the accident and included in the manuals presented at the inquiry.
Fortunately the high standard amongst the majority of the pilots followed by the merger with BOAC philosophies changed everything but not before a few more accidents.
Don't believe everything you read on wiki.
I would be interested if the inquiry testimonies have been published and if someone can supply a link as there are a couple I omitted to properly read when I discovered them hidden in the old BA museum.

National Archives hold the inquiry transcripts

Rather oddly not long after the wreckage was cleared the site was sold for housing. An old friend moved in there when the houses were finished. She said the developers hadn't realised there WAS any undeveloped space in Staines until the crash report.