Aircraft Overran Runway After Cockpit Smoke; One Fatality (VP-YKO)

Incident Overview and Immediate Response The aircraft was in initial climb after liftoff from runway 09 when the crew raised the landing gear. Smoke then spread into the cockpit. The captain decided to land immediately. The aircraft belly-landed and skidded for a dozen yards before overrunning the runway and coming to rest on a railway. ## Occupant Outcomes Twenty-five occupants evacuated safely. The flight engineer was killed by a propeller blade from the left engine that penetrated the cockpit. ## Official Findings The official investigation found that the cause of the accident was the presence of smoke in the flight crew compartment in sufficient quantity to make the captain apprehensive of fire and to cause him to land the aircraft immediately with the undercarriage retracted. ## Technical Investigation Subsequent investigation of the airframe, engine, and accessories revealed only a fractured rubber hose on the port engine connecting the rocker box of one of the lower cylinders to the collector box. The investigating officers concluded that oil leaking from this fracture was carried by the airflow onto the exhaust collector ring and generated smoke. Later tests on the same type of aircraft showed that smoke generated in this region would travel freely to the flight crew compartment via the wheel bay and the interior of the centre section leading edge.