Date & Time:
Dec 23, 1957
Type of aircraft:
Avro 685 York
Operator:
Registration:
G-AMUN
Flight Phase:
Landing (descent or approach)
Flight Type:
Cargo
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Luqa – Stansted
MSN:
SET55
YOM:
1947
Country:
United Kingdom
Region:
Europe
Crew on board:
4
Crew fatalities:
4
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
0
Other fatalities:
0
Total fatalities:
4
Circumstances:
The crew was completing a cargo flight from Malta-Luqa to Stansted. On approach, the visibility was limited due to poor weather conditions and the captain decided to make a go around. Few minutes later, a second attempt to land was also abandoned. During a third approach, the pilot-in-command descended below the glide, apparently to establish a visual contact with the ground, when the airplane struck trees and crashed in flames 0.75 mile short of runway threshold. The airplane was destroyed and all four crew members were killed.
Probable cause:
The accident was due to an error on the part of the captain in that whilst making an attempt to land he continued the approach below the critical height without sufficient visual reference to the ground.
