What happened
On the night of the accident, a Bristol Britannia was operating a troop transport flight from Blackbushe Airport toward Idris in Tripoli. The aircraft was carrying a total of 35 people, consisting of a crew of four, one supernumerary passenger, and 30 passengers.
Shortly after 22:14 local time, the aircraft departed the runway. Two minutes later, the flight crew contacted the control tower to report that the port engine had failed and that they intended to perform a left-hand circuit to attempt another landing. During the subsequent approach, as the aircraft transitioned from the base leg onto the final approach, it struck a wooded area approximately 1,200 yards from the runway threshold. The impact resulted in 34 fatalities.
Findings
Investigations into the crash determined that the primary factor was the pilot's inability to sustain sufficient altitude and airspeed during the single-engine approach following the engine malfunction.