BOAC Flight 781 was a scheduled British Overseas Airways Corporation passenger flight from Singapore to London. On 10 January 1954, a de Havilland Comet passenger jet operating the flight suffered an explosive decompression at altitude and crashed, killing all 35 people on board. The aircraft, registered G-ALYP, had taken off shortly before from Ciampino Airport in Rome, en route to Heathrow Airport in London, on the final leg of its flight from Singapore. After it exploded, the debris from the explosion fell into the sea near the island of Elba, off the Italian coast. G-ALYP was the third Comet built. Its loss marked the second in a series of three fatal accidents involving the Comet in less than twelve months, all caused by structural failures; it followed the crash of BOAC Flight 783 near Calcutta, India, in May 1953, and was followed by the loss of South African Airways Flight 201 in April 1954, which crashed in circumstances similar to 781 after departing from Ciampino Airport.
== Crew and passengers == Flight 781 was commanded by Captain Alan Gibson DFC, age 31, one of BOAC's youngest pilots. He had joined BOAC in 1946, after flying in the Royal Air Force during World War II. He had considerable flying experience, having logged more than 6,500 flight hours. He had previously been involved in an accident in 1951, in which a Hermes aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing, and he was later praised for his flying conduct during this accident flight. The first officer on Flight 781 was William John Bury, age 33. He had flown a total of approximately 4,900 hours. The second officer was Francis Charles Macdonald, age 27, and the radio operator was Luke Patrick McMahon, age 32. They had logged 720 flying hours and close to 3,600 flying hours, respectively. Ten of the twenty-nine passengers were children. Many of them were students of schools in the United Kingdom and had visited their families that had been residing in Asia. Three employees of BOAC and one employee of British European Airways were passengers on the accident segment. Additionally, six passengers were related to BOAC employees. Among the casualties were Chester Wilmot, a prominent Australian journalist and military historian working for the BBC, and Dorothy Beecher Baker, a Hand of the Cause of God for the Baháʼí Faith. Wilmot first joined the flight in Rangoon, and Baker first joined the flight in Karachi.
== Flight and accident == On the day of the accident, the Comet went through its routine preflight inspection in Rome, and was checked for "incidental damage"; none was found. The aircraft was therefore released to service. The same team of engineers a few months later examined South African Airways Flight 201 before its final flight. Flight 781 departed from Rome at 10:31 CET (09:31 UTC) on 10 January 1954, on the final stage of its flight to London. At about 10:50 CEST, a BOAC Argonaut, registration G-ALHJ, piloted by Captain Johnson, which was flying the same route at a lower altitude, was in contact with Captain Gibson. During a radio communication about weather conditions, the conversation was abruptly cut off. The last words heard from Gibson were "George How Jig, from George Yoke Peter, did you get my—". Soon afterwards, witnesses saw wreckage falling into the sea. Heathrow Airport initially listed Flight 781 as being delayed, but it was removed from the arrivals board at around 1:30 pm.
== Search and recovery == In its issue dated 11 January 1954, The New York Times published a report stating that a British Comet jet airliner had plunged into the sea near the western coast of Italy, specifically between the islands of Elba and Montecristo. As per the report, it was strongly suspected that the tragic incident had claimed the lives of 35 people. Extensive recovery operations were carried out overnight, yet despite thorough searches in the frigid waters, prospects of finding any survivors were bleak. The task of finding out what had…