Incident Overview

Date: Monday 14 March 1960
Aircraft Type: de Havilland DH-106 Comet 4
Owner/operator: British Overseas Airways Corporation – BOAC
Registration Number: G-APDS
Location: Madrid-Barajas Airport (MAD) – ÿ Spain
Phase of Flight: Approach
Status: Substantial, repaired
Casualties: Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 32
Component Affected: Main landing gears and fuel tank attached to the port wing.Main landing gears and fuel tank attached to the port wing.
Category: Accident
A scheduled aircraft experienced a near-miss landing at night due to an altitude discrepancy during approach. The impact resulted in significant damage to the aircraft’s landing gear and fuel tank, necessitating an emergency landing on a secondary runway.A scheduled aircraft experienced a near-miss landing at night due to an altitude discrepancy during approach. The impact resulted in significant damage to the aircraft’s landing gear and fuel tank, necessitating an emergency landing on a secondary runway.

Description

During a final approach to land at night the aircraft struck a ridge at a point 345 feet above runway level and approximately 2 miles from the runway threshold. As a result of the impact the wheels of both main landing gears and the fuel tank attached to the port wing were torn off and the port wing flaps damaged. The approach was discontinued and an emergency landing, with damaged landing gear down, was made on another runway. The aircraft operated on a scheduled service from London to Santiago de Chile, with intermediate stops at Madrid, Dakar, Recife, Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires. PROBABLE CAUSE: “While approaching the airport the aircraft was flown at an altitude lower than the spot height indicating the position of the Paracuellos Hills.”

Primary Cause

Altitude discrepancy during approach.Altitude discrepancy during approach.

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