Incident Overview

Date: Saturday 18 February 1956
Aircraft Type: Avro 685 York C.1
Owner/operator: Scottish Airlines
Registration Number: G-ANSY
Location: 3,5 km S of Malta-Luqa Airport (MLA) – ÿ Malta
Phase of Flight: En route
Status: Destroyed, written off
Casualties: Fatalities: 50 / Occupants: 50
Component Affected: Engine carburetorEngine carburetor
Category: Accident
An Avro York G-ANSY aircraft took off from Malta-Luqa Airport at 12:21 bound for London Stansted. A boost enrichment capsule malfunctioned in the carburetor, resulting in a fire in the engine shortly after takeoff. The aircraft descended rapidly to 700-800 feet airspeed, exhibiting a ‘crabbing’ motion, and subsequently stalled and dove to the ground near Zurrieq.An Avro York G-ANSY aircraft took off from Malta-Luqa Airport at 12:21 bound for London Stansted. A boost enrichment capsule malfunctioned in the carburetor, resulting in a fire in the engine shortly after takeoff. The aircraft descended rapidly to 700-800 feet airspeed, exhibiting a ‘crabbing’ motion, and subsequently stalled and dove to the ground near Zurrieq.

Description

Avro York G-ANSY took off from Malta-Luqa Airport at 12:21 for a flight to London Stansted. Shortly after becoming airborne the boost enrichment capsule in the carburetor of the no. 1 engine failed, causing a fire in the engine. It is presumed that the engine stopped producing power after 30 seconds of flight. The propeller was not feathered as the aircraft slowly climbed to 700-800 feet amsl (300-400 feet agl) with a ‘crabbing’ or ‘yawing’ motion to the left. Shortly after retracting the flaps, while still in a nose up attitude at very low flying speed, the aircraft stalled and dove to the ground near the town of Zurrieq. PROBABLE CAUSE: “The failure of no. 1 engine. However, failure alone did not cause the accident which was caused by loss of speed and consequent loss of control through an error of judgement of the pilot.”

Primary Cause

Failure of the no. 1 engine.Failure of the no. 1 engine.

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