Trident Papa India - 40 Years Ago Today
Discussion
From our company intranet.
BA said:
BA and IAG bosses to attend Papa India memorial
British Airways chief executive Keith Williams and IAG CEO Willie Walsh will join relatives and friends of the victims of the 1972 Staines air disaster at a 40th anniversary memorial service on Monday.
The service is in remembrance of the 118 people – including nine crew members - who died when a British European Airways Hawker Siddeley Trident bound for Brussels crashed less than three minutes after taking off from Heathrow.
The Staines crash – widely known in airline circles as the ‘Papa India’ incident after the aircraft’s registration plate - was the worst air disaster in Britain until the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing over Lockerbie in 1988.
The memorial service will be held at 11am at St Mary’s Church on Church Road, Staines, which had a stained glass window commemorating those who died installed in 2004.
The window depicts a dove, to represent peace, soaring over a landscape of trees and is framed by stars, which are symbolic of the 118 souls of the victims.
At 10am, one hour prior to the service, there will prayers and dedications in the Trident ‘Papa India’ Memorial Garden in the Moormead Sports Ground off of Waters Drive, Staines.
The circular garden, which is close to where the incident took place, adjacent to Staines by-pass, was officially opened on June 18 2004 with a small service led by Rev Rod Cosh, vicar of the Parish of Staines, and Bishop Michael Colclough, the Bishop of London.
The garden has been designed to provide a peaceful area for reflection by friends and relatives as they remember those who lost their lives.
Both services are open to anyone who would like to go and – apart from Keith and Willie - other senior BA executives due to attend are director of safety and security Tim Steeds and director of flight operations Stephen Riley.
Happened a short time after I was born but I still know all about this terrible day. Will never be forgotten in some parts of the UK.British Airways chief executive Keith Williams and IAG CEO Willie Walsh will join relatives and friends of the victims of the 1972 Staines air disaster at a 40th anniversary memorial service on Monday.
The service is in remembrance of the 118 people – including nine crew members - who died when a British European Airways Hawker Siddeley Trident bound for Brussels crashed less than three minutes after taking off from Heathrow.
The Staines crash – widely known in airline circles as the ‘Papa India’ incident after the aircraft’s registration plate - was the worst air disaster in Britain until the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing over Lockerbie in 1988.
The memorial service will be held at 11am at St Mary’s Church on Church Road, Staines, which had a stained glass window commemorating those who died installed in 2004.
The window depicts a dove, to represent peace, soaring over a landscape of trees and is framed by stars, which are symbolic of the 118 souls of the victims.
At 10am, one hour prior to the service, there will prayers and dedications in the Trident ‘Papa India’ Memorial Garden in the Moormead Sports Ground off of Waters Drive, Staines.
The circular garden, which is close to where the incident took place, adjacent to Staines by-pass, was officially opened on June 18 2004 with a small service led by Rev Rod Cosh, vicar of the Parish of Staines, and Bishop Michael Colclough, the Bishop of London.
The garden has been designed to provide a peaceful area for reflection by friends and relatives as they remember those who lost their lives.
Both services are open to anyone who would like to go and – apart from Keith and Willie - other senior BA executives due to attend are director of safety and security Tim Steeds and director of flight operations Stephen Riley.
Glad to see that it is being commemorated.
I remember the day it happened really well. I was 14 at the time and my sister was best friends with the daughter of BEA's Dublin Office manager at the time (Indeed, she still is - they have remained good mates over the years). The family was in total shock.
11 Irish executives were on board the aircraft that day as well as they were travelling to Brussels as part of the Irish EEC entry negotiation team - so the accident had a big impact on Ireland too. One of the victims was a brother of a teacher in my school
I remember the day it happened really well. I was 14 at the time and my sister was best friends with the daughter of BEA's Dublin Office manager at the time (Indeed, she still is - they have remained good mates over the years). The family was in total shock.
11 Irish executives were on board the aircraft that day as well as they were travelling to Brussels as part of the Irish EEC entry negotiation team - so the accident had a big impact on Ireland too. One of the victims was a brother of a teacher in my school
For anyone that's interested, here is the AAIB report. Reading it now shows just how much things have changed in commercial passenger flying and the number of hard lessons learned from this one flight.
www.aaib.gov.uk/cms_resources/4-1973%20G-ARPI.pdf
www.aaib.gov.uk/cms_resources/4-1973%20G-ARPI.pdf
The public reaction was very improper. They even had ice cream vans turn up.
I saw a TV programme a while ago where they contrasted the behaviour of the public following the Trident crash to their behaviour following the British Midland 737 crash on the M1 in 1989.
There could not have been a more stark demonstration of how much more "mature" we had become in the intervening 17 years
I saw a TV programme a while ago where they contrasted the behaviour of the public following the Trident crash to their behaviour following the British Midland 737 crash on the M1 in 1989.
There could not have been a more stark demonstration of how much more "mature" we had become in the intervening 17 years
Geneve said:
An accident that really should never have happened. But lots learned from it.
At the time, the crash was announced almost immediately on the radio, and so many members of the public went to look that the emergency services couldn't get to the scene.
Having read the report out of interest I'd have to correct you there.At the time, the crash was announced almost immediately on the radio, and so many members of the public went to look that the emergency services couldn't get to the scene.
AAIB Report said:
The field was sufficently inaccessible to prevent all but the most persistent sightseers from reaching it. The police were succesful in controlling spectators, and contemporary reports that members of the public had impeded rescue services by their presence near the scene are not bourne out by the facts.
Well, if you see any film footage of the crash from the TV reports of the time, you can see hoardes of cars parked along the hard shoulder of the A30 and at least one ice cream van. There is also a shot of a fireman shouting at members of the public to back off because a fire has just broken out in the wreckage of the tail section.
There is certainly visual evidence that the public were not helping matters.
There is certainly visual evidence that the public were not helping matters.
I'll admit to having not read the full AAIB report, but BBC News are reporting that the aicraft "broke in two as it fell". Is this really the case, or was it in fact that the aircraft broke up on impact...? Can't honestly see the former happening...
Nice to see it is being remembered with a service.
Nice to see it is being remembered with a service.
Is it really that long ago? I remember it well as I was 13 a the time so things like this are etched into the memory, sadly.
Haven't read the AAIB report yet as only got off a plane myself yesterday morning so maybe now is not the time to do so.
Good to see that the tragedy has not been forgotten.
RIP.
Haven't read the AAIB report yet as only got off a plane myself yesterday morning so maybe now is not the time to do so.
Good to see that the tragedy has not been forgotten.
RIP.
I remember seeing this aircraft a number of times before the crash. reading through the public enquiry report, it reminds me that a number of people, including my father, commenting that when the plane throttled back for noise abatement when taking off from Heathrow, it felt from a passenger's viewpoint, as if the aircraft was falling out of the sky. Whatever other detail issues came out, I am left with the impression that throttling back for this reason this was the key factor.
I do not think that safety should ever be compromised for 'environmental' reasons.
Sympathy to all those who lost relatives.
I do not think that safety should ever be compromised for 'environmental' reasons.
Sympathy to all those who lost relatives.
Roop said:
I'll admit to having not read the full AAIB report, but BBC News are reporting that the aicraft "broke in two as it fell". Is this really the case, or was it in fact that the aircraft broke up on impact...? Can't honestly see the former happening...
Nice to see it is being remembered with a service.
It didn't break up up during the descent. It hit the ground fully intact with its wings level and its nose at an upward angle. It was in what is called a "super stall" where elevators were rendered useless due to the airflow over the tailplane being blanketed by the wings. Nice to see it is being remembered with a service.
The practice of noise abatement is NOT dangerous and has been and is performed every day thousands of times around the world without incident.
The cause of the crash of Trident 1C G-ARPI was due to a crew member deliberately retracting the leading edge droops (the Trident 1C did not have leading edge slats like modern airliners) at a speed below which they would normally have been retracted. What was worse was that all the automatic stall recovery warnings and actions, which should have saved the aircraft, were then inexplicably turned off -which doomed the flight.
The crash was caused by deliberate human actions on the flightdeck. What no one will ever know is WHY those actions were carried out.
Eric Mc said:
It didn't break up up during the descent. It hit the ground fully intact with its wings level and its nose at an upward angle. It was in what is called a "super stall" where elevators were rendered useless due to the airflow over the tailplane being blanketed by the wings.
Concerning the break-up, this is as I thought. Super stall is an attribute particularly applicable to T-tail aircraft IIRC. Presumably a regular low-mounted tailplane tends to be out of the "shadow" of the main wing at high AoA. The PA-38 used to get flak over this, although I'm not sure how much was true and how much was flying club folklore.Precisely BECAUSE so little was known about what went on in that cockpit that day, massive studies into crew psychology and behaviour were instigated - especially in the UK and the US. An awful lot of bad practice was unearthed and cockpit drill was improved in the following years.
Although the crash of Papa India was a tragedy, its legacy was profound.
Although the crash of Papa India was a tragedy, its legacy was profound.
I would agree that Papa India was the catalyst for the development of what became known as CRM (at least this side of the pond), but it took far too many years and far too many 'accidents' before it became an Industry-wide norm in the late '80s/early '90s.
I'll cite the 1985 BA Airtours disaster as well as the 1989 BM Kegworth crash as indicators that CRM as well as Airline Procedures were nowhere near robust enough nearly 2 decades post Papa India!
I'll cite the 1985 BA Airtours disaster as well as the 1989 BM Kegworth crash as indicators that CRM as well as Airline Procedures were nowhere near robust enough nearly 2 decades post Papa India!
Edited by Ginetta G15 Girl on Monday 18th June 15:36
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