Nicosia

The aircraft was on a scheduled flight from London to Rome, Athens, Istanbul, Ankara, Nicosia and Tel Aviv. From Istanbul the flight was operated by British European Airways on behalf of Cyprus Airways. The operating crew, employed by BEA, consisted of a captain and two first officers. Also aboard were four cabin staff employed by Cyprus Airways and 27 passengers. The trip to Ankara was normal. The time between landing and starting engines at Ankara was 46 minutes during which light snow was falling. (At take-off the aircraft had a light covering of snow on the upper surface of its wings, however, this deposit had no bearing on the accident). The radio-telephony tape recording showed that the aircraft taxied out along the short taxiway, then back-tracked up the runway to its take-off position on runway 21 at the intersection with the longer taxiway. The runway length available from this position was 9,027 feet. Take-off weight was 53 465 kg, i.e. 18 185 kg below maximum permissible weight or 1 085 kg below the regulated take-off weight. The takeoff run as to distance and time was quite normal, as also were rotation and unstick. The first abnormality occurred a second or two after unstick when the aircraft rapidly assumed an excessively steep climbing angle. One witness put the angle achieved as about twice the normal, another as 45° to 50°. There was also evidence from witnesses of a wing drop and of variations in the engine noise during this climb. The aircraft stalled with the left wing down at a height of about 450 ft then sank to the ground in a relatively flat attitude. The accident site was 1 600 m and on a bearing of 214° from Esenboğa Tower. The accident occurred at 2343LT. The aircraft was almost completely destroyed by impact and fire. All 7 crew and 20 passengers were killed. Six passengers were seriously injured.

The crew was performing a flight from Nicosia to Tehran, carrying a load of highly sensitive equipment for the CIA. Maybe following a navigational error, the four engine aircraft penetrated the Soviet Airspace over Armenia and was later attacked by the pilots of two Soviet MiG-17. The pilot of the C-118 was able to attempt an emergency landing in a field located somewhere in Azerbaijan (the exact place remains unclear). While the airplane was damaged beyond repair, all nine crew members were evacuated.

The crew was conducting a local training sortie at Nicosia Airport. Enroute, the instructor voluntarily shot down one engine to simulate a failure and the approach was continued. Shortly later, the pilot-in-command lost control of the airplane that stalled and belly landed few hundred yards short of runway. All three crew members were unhurt while the airplane was damaged beyond repair.

The aircraft, belonging to the Compagnie Autrex-Lopez-Loreta-Lebreton, was on a delivery flight from Paris to Hanoi. It departed from Paris on 22 January 1954 at 0650Z and arrived at Brindisi the same day at 1305Z. The following day the aircraft left Brindisi at 0720Z and landed at Nicosia at 1330Z. From Nicosia the aircraft intended to fly to Basra, but a failure in the HF radio equipment caused a change in the schedule, and it was decided to fly to Beirut where specialists and the spare parts necessary for the repair were available. On final approach by night, the aircraft was too low when, at a speed of 105 knots, it struck a mound of earth located 85 feet short of runway 36, damaging the right mains gear. The aircraft subsequently landed on the runway when the undercarriage collapsed. There were no injuries but the airplane was damaged beyond repair.

While taxiing for takeoff, the nose wheel steering system failed. The pilot informed ATC and continued to taxi using other braking systems and attempted a double bend when the brakes failed. The aircraft veered off the taxiway and collided with parked fuel tanks. There were no casualties while the aircraft was written off.

While on a flight from Luqa to Nicosia, the airplane deviated from the prescribed flight path to the north. While cruising in foggy conditions, the airplane hit the slope of a mountain located in the region of Mersin. Five crew members were killed while two others were injured.

While flying along the Egyptian coast, en route to Saigon via Nicosia, the aircraft suffered an engine failure. The pilot decided to reduce his altitude in an attempt to make an emergency landing but the aircraft crashed near Marsa Matruh, killing all nine crew members registered to the Touraine Group.

The aircraft was on its way to Indochina to be delivered to the Société Indochinoise de Transports Aériens (SITA) and was carrying two British engineers and three pilots. While cruising between Turkey and Cyprus, the aircraft crashed in unknown circumstances into the Mediterranean Sea, about 100 km north of the Cyprus coast. No trace of the aircraft nor the five occupants was ever found.