#De havilland comet windows

There is no doubt that, as an expert witness, Mr Lett, has stated, the aircraft suffered a complete structural failure in the air and thereafter the aircraft was on fire in the air.”

There being thus no direct evidence as to the cause of the failure of the Comet to get safely through the storm, we have to infer it from the the state of the wreckage, which was distributed over a large area.

“We have no evidence before us to indicate sabotage or a stroke of lightning,nor faulty workmanship or defective material. The evidence at this point, just one month after the incident, was somewhat inconclusive. Witnesses had reported that the storm was unusually severe, though, and as the Comet was still climbing out they wouldn’t have been able to fly over it. He was therefore fully competent to judge the weather forecast en route and the warning given, and make up his mind whether to take off or not.” It further stated, “The captain was not only well qualified but had considerable experience of weather conditions on this route. However, the investigation reported that weather conditions at take-off had been well within the allowed criteria, and the pilot was aware of the risk of storms. It was noted that the weather had been poor when Flight 783 came down thunder storms were reported in the area. Just six minutes after taking off, Flight 783 was seen coming down in flames near the village of Jagalgori. On board this particular Comet there were six crew members and 37 passengers, mostly British but also including three Americans, two Burmese passengers and one Filipino. The flight had started in Singapore, and was heading on towards London, via Delhi. (It’s now Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose international Airport in Kolkata.) On the 2nd of May, 1953, BOAC Flight 783 took off from what was then called Dum Dum Airport in Calcutta. However, de Havilland would soon discover that having the first jet airliner didn’t necessarily mean it was the best.

“You scarcely hear the Comet’s four mighty Rolls Royce jet engines… You delight in the Comet’s luxury and BOACs world-famed personal service… You arrive gloriously fresh, barely realising you’ve travelled at all!”īritish Pathé footage of the de Havilland Comet in 1952 “Eight miles a minute, eight miles high, in the smooth clear sky.”

#De havilland comet windows

And the large square windows gave passengers spectacular views.Īdvertisements for the plane in the 1950s made it sound like a dream. Its pressurised cabin – something modern air travellers take for granted – was also a new development which meant that the Comet could now fly above rough weather, instead of taking a rough trip through it or a long one around it. With four turbojet engines in the wings, the Comet promised a smoother flight experience than propeller aircraft could provide. It was introduced to passenger services in May of 1952. In 1949, they proudly unveiled the world’s first commercial jet airliner, the de Havilland Comet. It was the beginning of the Jet Age.ĭe Havilland were a British aviation manufacturer intent on riding the crest of that wave. They could be larger, faster, and more comfortable than their propeller-driven predecessors. This led to the development of commercial jet airliners. They needed to equip their aircraft with onboard comforts like lavatories, and for airline companies to make flight affordable, they needed to expand capacity.

Many of the first commercial aircraft were originally designed for military use, and only later converted for passengers, but as air travel became more popular it was clear that aviation manufacturers needed to cater specifically to civilian usage. It has helped to shrink the world, putting the entire globe within relatively easy reach of the average person.Īlthough it existed as far back as the First World War – the first commercial air passenger paid $400 for a journey made in January 1914 – it was in the wake of the Second World War that it expanded and, if you’ll excuse the pun, really took off. And when the product in question is a commercial jet airliner, supposed to carry people around the world in comfort and luxury, a flaw in the design can cost lives.Ĭommercial aviation is arguably one of the wonders of the modern age. They do matter a lot, though, when they have an impact on safety. The processes by which everyday items are designed don’t usually matter too much to the end user. Although engineering is all around us, all of the time, most of us don’t tend to give it much thought.