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On 3 July 1968 Airspeed Ambassador registration ''G-AMAD'' of BKS Air Transport, crashed at London Heathrow Airport, damaging two parked Trident airliners as it cartwheeled into the incomplete London Heathrow Terminal 1, then under construction. Six of the eight people on board the Ambassador were killed, along with the eight racehorses being transported on it.〔 citing ''Aircraft Illustrated'' Vol.1, nr. 4 (Oct. 1968), p.127〕 The crash was blamed on the failure of a flap-operating rod due to metal fatigue, resulting in asymmetrical lift. ==Accident== The Ambassador, construction number 5211,〔 recently converted to a "horsebox" transport, was on a flight from Deauville, France to Heathrow Airport. It was transporting eight racehorses belonging to businessman William Hill together with five grooms. As the aircraft was landing on Heathrow's runway 28R the left wing dropped, and the wing tip and left landing gear touched the grass adjacent to the runway. The crew tried to increase power to go-around and climb away, but the bank angle increased. The aircraft hit two parked empty British European Airways Hawker Siddeley Tridents, knocking the tail fin off one (''G-ARPI'') and slicing off the entire tail section of the other (''G-ARPT''). The Ambassador cartwheeled following the impact and slid upside down coming up against the ground floor of the terminal building where there was an explosion. Six people on board the Ambassador died, including the flight crew and three of five grooms, along with all eight horses. The other two grooms were seriously injured as were two people on the ground. A further 29 people on the ground received slight injuries. Of the two Trident aircraft, G-ARPT was damaged beyond economic repair and G-ARPI was subsequently repaired but was later destroyed when it crashed on 18 June 1972 in what became known as the Staines Air Disaster. A Viscount (G-APKF) received slight damage.〔(ACCIDENTS AND INCIDENTS: JUNE/JULY ) ''Flight International''〕 All other Ambassadors were grounded pending the result of an inquiry.〔 The starboard rod from the aircraft was tested and found satisfactory but rods from some other Ambassadors showed signs of cracking and when tested failed in a similar manner to G-AMAD's port rod. The rods on aircraft were strengthened and shown to be capable of 37,000 hours flight time. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「1968 Heathrow BKS Air Transport Airspeed Ambassador crash」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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