1948 Heathrow disaster
{{short description|1948 aviation accident}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox aircraft occurrence
| name =1948 Heathrow disaster
| image = File:Douglas DC-3D OO-AUM Sabena Ringway 08.07.49 edited-3.jpg
| alt =
| caption = A Sabena DC-3, similar to the accident aircraft
|image_size=300
| occurrence_type =Accident
| date = {{start date|1948|03|02|df=y}}
| summary = Poor weather conditions and pilot error
| site = Heathrow Airport
| coordinates =
| occupants = 22
| passengers = 19
| crew = 3
| injuries = 2
| fatalities = 20
| missing =
| survivors = 2
| aircraft_type = Douglas DC-3C
| aircraft_name =
| Operator=Sabena
| tail_number = OO-AWH
| Origin=Brussel-Zaventem airport (BRU/EBBR), Belgium
| stopover =
| stopover0 =
| stopover1 =
| stopover2 =
| stopover3 =
| stopover4 =
| stopover5 =
| last_stopover =
| Destination=London Airport (LHR/EGLL), United Kingdom
}}
The 1948 Heathrow disaster was the crash of a Douglas DC-3C of the Belgian airline Sabena at Heathrow Airport, London, United Kingdom on 2 March 1948. It was the first major accident at Heathrow Airport; of the 22 people on board 20 were killed, of whom most had British nationality.{{cite book|title=Rampen in België|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dly9axBP4O4C&pg=PA67|year=2005|publisher=Lannoo Uitgeverij|isbn=978-90-209-6216-1|page=67}}
Aircraft
The DC-3 involved was built in 1947 with serial number 43154 and registration OO-AWH and was used by the Belgian airline company Sabena from 21 March 1947 until its destruction in 1948. It was built for a US military contract but was never delivered and was the last DC-3 to be built by Douglas.{{cite web |url=http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/life/courtsocial/article1805884.ece |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150603215650/http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/life/courtsocial/article1805884.ece |url-status=dead |archive-date=3 June 2015 |title=London air crash Dakota bursts into flames |publisher=The Times |date=3 March 2003 |access-date=3 February 2016}}
Crash
The Sabena flight departed from Brussels, Belgium en route to London, United Kingdom under the command of pilot Henri Goblet and radio officer Jean Lomba.
| class="wikitable" | ||||||
| style="background:#ccccff;"
!rowspan=2|Nationality | colspan=2|Passengers | colspan=2|Crew | colspan=2|Total | |||
| style="background:#ccccff;"
!Total | Killed | Total | Killed | Total | Killed | |
| valign=top | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| valign=top | 13 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 12 |
| valign=top | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| valign=top | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| valign=top | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| valign=top | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| valign=top
|Cuba | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| valign=top
|Total | 19 | 17 | 3 | 3 | 22 | 20 |
Workers in a hangar nearby saw the aircraft crash on the runway and quickly went to the survivors' aid. When they reached the aircraft, there was utter devastation; only the tail section of the aircraft was left intact. However, there were survivors and the workers quickly pulled a few passengers from the burning wreckage. They could hear the screams of those still trapped in the inferno and despite all their efforts those people perished. When emergency personnel finally arrived on the scene, there was no one left to save. It was later concluded that a high number of passengers survived the crash but died in the blaze either by burning to death or smoke inhalation. The three survivors were badly burned and were quickly taken to the hospital, where one of them soon died from his injuries. One of the survivors was former MP Otho Nicholson.{{cite web |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2739133 |title=19 killed in crash of Dakota |publisher=gov.au |date=4 March 1948 |access-date=3 February 2016}}
Aftermath
Following the crash, the United Kingdom's Ministry of Civil Aviation stipulated that ground-controlled approaches would no longer be available to aircraft landing in conditions of less than {{convert|150|ft|m}} vertical visibility and {{convert|800|yd|m}} horizontal visibility except in an emergency.{{cite journal |author= |title=Civil Aviation News: Sabena Crash and G. C. A. |url=https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1948/1948%20-%200330.html |pages=280 |journal=Flight |location=London |date=11 March 1948 |access-date=18 February 2016}} In the wake of the crash and that of a Douglas DC-4 two months later, Sabena postponed its 25th anniversary celebrations that had been scheduled for the end of May 1948.{{cite journal |author= |title=Sabena's 25th Anniversary |url=https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1948/1948%20-%200770.html |pages=584 |journal=Flight |location=London |date=27 May 1948 |access-date=18 February 2016}}{{ASN accident|title=Douglas DC-4 OO-CBE |id=19480512-0 |access-date=18 February 2016 }} The two airport workers who entered the burning wreckage to rescue survivors, Harold Bending and Angus Brown, were awarded the George Medal in June 1948.{{cite journal |author= |title=Here and There: Life-saving Awards |url=https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1948/1948%20-%200978.html |pages=6 |journal=Flight |location=London |date=1 July 1948 |access-date=18 February 2016}}{{London Gazette |issue=38329 |supp=y |page=1|date=22 June 1948}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{Aviation accidents and incidents in the United Kingdom in the 1940s}}
{{Aviation accidents and incidents in 1948}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Heathrow Disaster}}
Category:Sabena accidents and incidents
Category:Airliner accidents and incidents caused by pilot error
Category:Airliner accidents and incidents involving controlled flight into terrain
Category:Airliner accidents and incidents involving fog
Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in London
Category:1948 disasters in the United Kingdom
Category:Accidents and incidents involving the Douglas DC-3
Category:March 1948 in the United Kingdom
Category:20th century in Middlesex
Category:Disasters in Middlesex
Category:History of the London Borough of Hillingdon
Category:Aviation accidents and incidents at Heathrow Airport