Court Line Aviation Flight 95 was an international

charter flight Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft (i.e., chartering) as opposed to individual aircraft seats (i.e., purchasing a ticket through a traditional airline). Regulation Charter – also called air taxi or ad hoc – flights ...

from

London Luton Airport London Luton Airport is an international airport located in Luton, England, situated east of the town centre, and is the Airports of London, fourth-busiest airport serving London. The airport is owned by London Luton Airport Limited, a comp ...

, Bedfordshire, England, to Munich-Riem Airport,

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, operated on 18 April 1974 by

Court Line Court Line was a 20th-century British Tramp trade, tramp shipping company that was founded in 1905. In the 1960s it diversified into shipbuilding and Air charter, charter aviation. Its merchant shipping interests were based in Port of London, Lo ...

BAC One-Eleven 518 G-AXMJ. During its take-off run, Piper PA-23 Aztec G-AYDE of McAlpine Aviation entered the active runway without permission. Although the pilots of the One-Eleven tried to take avoiding action, a collision between the two aircraft occurred, killing the pilot of the

Aztec The Aztecs ( ) were a Mesoamerican civilization that flourished in central Mexico in the Post-Classic stage, post-classic period from 1300 to 1521. The Aztec people included different Indigenous peoples of Mexico, ethnic groups of central ...

and injuring his passenger. The pilots of the substantially damaged One-Eleven successfully aborted the take-off and the aircraft was evacuated using emergency slides, with no casualties. The Aztec was written off, but the One-Eleven was repaired and returned to service. Four recommendations were made following the accident.

Accident

Flight 95 was an international charter flight from

Luton Luton () is a town and borough in Bedfordshire, England. The borough had a population of 225,262 at the 2021 census. Luton is on the River Lea, about north-west of London. The town's foundation dates to the sixth century as a Saxon settleme ...

, Bedfordshire, UK, to Munich-Riem, West Germany. At 15:19

Greenwich Mean Time Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the local mean time at the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, Royal Observatory in Greenwich, London, counted from midnight. At different times in the past, it has been calculated in different ways, including being ...

, the One-Eleven received permission to

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to holding point Delta where it was to await clearance. At 15:24 GMT, permission was granted for the One-Eleven to enter runway 08/26 and backtrack along Runway 08, where the aircraft was to hold at the threshold awaiting permission to take off. The One-Eleven reported it was entering Runway 08/26 between 15:25:14 and 15:25:23. At 15:25:32, the Aztec reported that it was ready to taxi. Information was given to the pilot of the Aztec that the wind was from 300° at and the pilot was offered a choice of runway 08 or runway 26 for take-off. Luton Airport has a single runway, and the pilot of the smaller aircraft chose runway 26, being the opposite end of the same runway allocated to the Court Line BAC 1-11. At about 15:26, the Aztec was instructed "''Cleared to Alpha Two Six''", This was non-standard phraseology; the correct instruction should have been "''Cleared to holding point Alpha, Runway Two Six''". This non-standard phraseology was a causal factor in the accident. In the meantime, the One-Eleven had received clearance to take off at 15:25:24 and reported that it was rolling at 15:27:31. At 15:27:49, the Aztec was asked to report when it was ready for take-off, to which the reply was that it would be ready in 30 seconds. The Aztec then entered the active runway, in order to backtrack along the runway to the opposite end. The passenger on board the Aztec, who was also a pilot himself, queried the pilot via the intercom as to whether or not the aircraft had been cleared to enter the runway. He did not receive an answer, and by this time the aircraft had entered the runway. At this point, the One-Eleven had reached a speed of during its take-off run. The first officer was flying the aircraft. The

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, seeing the Aztec enter the runway from the left and realising it was not going to stop, took control of the aircraft. He fully opened both

throttle A throttle is a mechanism by which fluid flow is managed by construction or obstruction. An engine's power can be increased or decreased by the restriction of inlet gases (by the use of a throttle), but usually decreased. The term ''throttle'' ha ...

s and steered the aircraft to the right whilst attempting to lift the

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wing over the Aztec. The passenger in the Aztec saw the One-Eleven approaching and ducked before the collision occurred, but was unable to warn the pilot of the impending collision. The port wing of the One-Eleven sliced through the cabin of the Aztec, killing the pilot instantly and injuring the passenger. The Aztec lost the top of the cabin and its propellers were damaged, while the outer of the One-Eleven's port wing was substantially damaged, resulting in fuel leaking from the tank contained therein. Use of full

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and maximum braking enabled the take-off to be successfully aborted within the remaining runway length, with the damaged One-Eleven stopping beyond the point of collision. As there was a risk of fire from the leaking fuel, the commander ordered an

emergency evacuation Emergency evacuation is an immediate egress or escape of people away from an area that contains an imminent threat, an ongoing threat or a hazard to lives or property. Examples range from the small-scale evacuation of a building due to a storm ...

of the aircraft. Although the rear doors opened as intended and the evacuation slides deployed, both forward doors required considerable force to open them before all on board could evacuate the aircraft. No injuries were sustained in the evacuation. The investigation subsequently was able to replicate the difficulty in opening both forward doors on the One-Eleven. It was discovered that inadequate guidance from the manufacturer of the escape slides meant that they were incorrectly stowed. One door had an incorrect part fitted. A warning was issued to all One-Eleven operators and the relevant aviation authorities concerning this issue. After the accident, some airline pilots called for

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations except for commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services for other ...

aircraft to be banned from using Luton, a view which was not supported by the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators

Aircraft

BAC One-Eleven

The BAC One-Eleven 518 involved was registered G-AXMJ, and was built in February 1970. Following the accident, the aircraft was repaired and returned to service.

Piper Aztec

The Piper PA-23 Aztec involved was registered G-AYDE, manufactured in 1967, and bought by McAlpine Aviation in 1970.

Investigation

The accident was investigated by the Accidents Investigation Branch. The final report was issued on 26 February 1975. The cause of the accident was found to be that the pilot of the Aztec entered the active runway without permission. Non-standard phraseology by the controller at Luton was found to be a contributory factor. The ground markings and signage at Luton were found to be compliant with the legislation then existing. No stop bars or stop lights were provided, nor were they required by law. The pilots were not informed by radio of each other's movements, so may have been unaware that the runway was being used for departures in both directions. Although the radio installation on the Aztec conformed to legislation then existing, its arrangement was criticised as the passenger/

co-pilot In aviation, the first officer (FO), also called co-pilot, is a pilot in addition to the captain, who is the legal commander. In the event of incapacitation of the captain, the first officer will assume command of the aircraft. Requirement Hi ...

could not hear in his headset transmissions made by the pilot. Four recommendations were made; three concerning the operation of

Luton Airport London Luton Airport is an international airport located in Luton, England, situated east of the town centre, and is the fourth-busiest airport serving London. The airport is owned by London Luton Airport Limited, a company wholly owned by ...

and one concerning the radio installation in aircraft.

References

Sources

External links