{{Short description|1953 aviation accident in India}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}} {{Infobox aircraft occurrence | name = BOAC Flight 783 | image = British Overseas Airways Corporation - de Havilland DH-106 Comet 1 G-ALYV.jpg | alt = | caption = G-ALYV, the aircraft involved in the accident | occurrence_type = Accident | date = {{start date|1953|05|02|df=y}} | summary = Crashed following structural failure in severe turbulence | site = Jagalgori, near Calcutta, India | coordinates = {{coord|22.788577|88.082081|type:event|display = title}} | occupants = 43 | passengers = 37 | crew = 6 | fatalities = 43 | survivors = 0 | aircraft_type = de Havilland DH.106 Comet | operator = British Overseas Airways Corporation | IATA = BA783 | ICAO = BOA783 | callsign = SPEEDBIRD 783 | tail_number = G-ALYV | origin = Kallang Airport, Singapore | stopover = | stopover0 = Dum Dum Airport, Calcutta, India | stopover1 = Safdarjung Airport, India | stopover2 = | stopover3 = | stopover4 = | stopover5 = | last_stopover = | destination = London, England }} On 2 May 1953, '''BOAC Flight 783''', a de Havilland Comet jetliner registered G-ALYV and operated by British Overseas Airways Corporation, broke up mid-air and crashed after encountering a severe squall, shortly after taking off from Calcutta (now Kolkata), India. All 43 passengers and crew on board were killed.<ref name="faa-lessons">{{cite web|title=Lessons Learned – De Havilland DH-106 Comet 1 |url=https://www.faa.gov/lessons_learned/transport_airplane/accidents/G-ALYV |date=7 March 2023 |access-date=8 July 2024|website=Federal Aviation Administration}}</ref>
The crash was followed in less than a year by two more fatal accidents involving structural failure of Comet aircraft: BOAC Flight 781 and South African Airways Flight 201, after which the entire fleet was grounded until extensive redesign of the type was carried out, leading to the development of the Comet 2 version.<ref name="ASN">{{Cite web|last=Ranter|first=Harro|title=ASN Aircraft accident de Havilland DH-106 Comet 1 G-ALYV Calcutta-Dum Dum Airport (CCU)|url=https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19530502-0|access-date=2020-10-11|website=aviation-safety.net|publisher=Aviation Safety Network}}</ref>
== History of the flight == Flight 783 had originated in Singapore and was a service to London. After a scheduled stopover at Calcutta's Dum Dum Airport (now Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport), the aircraft departed on 2 May at 16:29 local time (10:59 GMT) on its next segment to Delhi.<ref name="official-report">{{cite report|url=http://lessonslearned.faa.gov/Comet1/G-ALYV_Report.pdf|title=Report of the Court Investigation on the Accident to COMET G-ALYV on 2nd May, 1953|author=Lokur|first=N.S.|date=26 May 1953|publisher=Her Majesty's Stationery Office|location=London|access-date=18 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150415121817/http://lessonslearned.faa.gov/Comet1/G-ALYV_Report.pdf|archive-date=2015-04-15|url-status=dead}}</ref>
Six minutes after takeoff, while the jet was climbing to {{convert|7500|ft|abbr=on}}, radio contact with air traffic control was lost. At around the same time, witnesses on the ground near the village of Jagalgori, around {{convert|25|mi}} north-west of Calcutta, observed the aircraft coming down in flames. Severe rain and thunderstorms were present in the area.{{fact|date=November 2021}}
The wreckage of G-ALYV was later found strewn along a {{convert|5|mi|adj=on|0}} track, with the main parts still on fire. There were no survivors.<ref name="official-report"/>
== Victims == The 43 people on board were 6 crew members and 37 passengers. The official report states that there were, of the passengers: 31 British, three Americans, two Burmese, and one Filipino on board.<ref name="official-report"/> Among the victims were Australian politician Trevor Oldham and his wife.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18367724 |title=Comet Jet Crash in "Tempest". 43 Killed: Four Australians |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=4 May 1953 |access-date=19 February 2019 |page=1 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> In the report, the Oldhams are listed as British nationals.<ref name="official-report"/>
== Investigation == The subsequent investigation found that, after encountering a squall, the aircraft "suffered structural failure in the air which caused fire." The probable cause of the failure was reported as "overstressing which resulted from either: severe gusts encountered in the thundersquall, or overcontrolling or loss of control by the pilot when flying through the thunderstorm."<ref name="official-report"/><ref name="Flight-19">{{cite magazine|title=The Comet Accident – Report from Calcutta|url=https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1953/1953%20-%200787.html|access-date=18 February 2018|magazine=Flight and Aircraft Engineer|issue=2317|volume=LXIII|page=781|date=19 June 1953|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091115194236/http://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarchive/view/1953/1953%20-%200787.html|archive-date=15 November 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref>
The investigators also recommended "to consider if any modification to the structure of the Comet is necessary."<ref name="official-report"/>
== References == {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20150415121817/https://lessonslearned.faa.gov/Comet1/G-ALYV_Report.pdf Accident report] – Report by N.S. Lokur, republished in the United Kingdom by the Ministry of Civil Aviation<!--Alternate link: https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/G-ALYV_Report.pdf -->
{{de Havilland Comet-related}} {{Aviation accidents and incidents in India}} {{Aviation accidents and incidents in 1953}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boac Flight 783}} Category:Aviation accidents and incidents involving the de Havilland Comet Flight 783 Category:Airliner accidents and incidents caused by in-flight structural failure Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in India Category:Aviation accidents and incidents in 1953 Category:Disasters in West Bengal Category:May 1953 in Asia Category:1953 in India