What happened
On September 9, 1963, a Vickers Viscount V-802, registration G-AOJC, operated by British European Airways, was performing a scheduled flight from London to Geneva. While flying over the Paris region, the crew was alerted to damage on the left wing's trailing edge flap mechanism. A protective panel had become partially detached, and the captain, fearing that loose screws might obstruct the flap mechanism, decided to proceed with the landing using a flapless configuration.
The crew consulted onboard manuals and established landing speeds appropriate for a flapless approach. During the landing at Geneva-C/Cointrin, the aircraft touched down on runway 25 at approximately 115 knots. While the landing initially appeared normal to the crew and an observer, the nose gear wheels were lost shortly after touchdown. This caused the nose to drop, resulting in heavy vibrations and a loud noise similar to a tire burst. The aircraft veered left, exiting the runway via a taxiway and coming to a halt after traveling 1,550 meters. There were no fatalities and no injuries among the 30 passengers and 4 crew members, though the aircraft sustained severe damage, including destruction of the inner propellers due to ground contact.
The investigation
Investigators examined the wreckage of the nose gear and the runway markings. Analysis of the rubber and metal deposits on the runway confirmed that the main gear made contact first, followed by the nose gear approximately 38 meters later. The investigation focused on the sleeve at the lower end of the nose gear shock absorber, which was made of a light alloy (DTD 683).
While the manufacturing tolerances and the direction of the applied load were found to be within specifications, the investigation looked into the history of similar components. It was noted that some similar sleeves had previously shown corrosion cracks caused by electrical potential differences between the alloy and adjacent steel parts. Although a bronze bushing had been installed to prevent this, the investigation examined the possibility of existing structural weaknesses.
Findings
- The primary cause of the accident was the structural failure of a nose gear component during landing.
- The landing was performed without flaps due to the identified damage to the left wing flap mechanism.
- The failure was likely exacerbated by a local weakening of the component, potentially due to existing cracks or corrosion.
- The nose gear contact with the runway was relatively abrupt because the aircraft's pitch was higher than normal due to the lack of flaps, though the landing remained within operational limits.