Hi all,
I was browsing Airliners.net when I came across some more information on the 1968 accident that befell BOAC Flight 712. Reading through there is some interesting stuff I just had to share with W900 members, though I'm sure some of you have heard it before. But for those who haven't, it is very interesting!
On 8th April 1968 B707-465 G-ARWE was operating BOAC Flight 712 from Heathrow to Singapore, via Zurich. Less than a minute into flight an engine failure on engine #2 that caused it to break off the wing, necessitating an emergency return to LHR. Upon landing fire took hold of the aircraft and almost totally destroyed it, save for the nose section which was salvaged. 5 people were killed, including a stewardess who went back into the burning fuselage to rescue an elderly lady. Neither survived.
On 29th August 1969 TWA Flight 840 was hijacked by the PFLP and the cockpit of the B707, N776TW, destroyed by a bomb.
Now, because these were the days before young airliners were written off because of minor - or extreme - damage, the cockpit of G-ARWE was mated to the fuselage of N776TW, creating a 'new' B707 that was registered N28714 and flew with TWA until March 1980. Often visited LHR, the scene of the nose section's lucky escape. Unlike many 707's, N28714 still exists as a mothballed frame at Davis Monthan AFB today, so this ill-fated combination of 707 parts lives on where many of its normal classmates were cut up.
I find it amazing the trouble they went to to create a workable and usable plane out of parts that could have sustained terminal unseen damage. Admirable though that they did without it ever having any further issues.
I was browsing Airliners.net when I came across some more information on the 1968 accident that befell BOAC Flight 712. Reading through there is some interesting stuff I just had to share with W900 members, though I'm sure some of you have heard it before. But for those who haven't, it is very interesting!
On 8th April 1968 B707-465 G-ARWE was operating BOAC Flight 712 from Heathrow to Singapore, via Zurich. Less than a minute into flight an engine failure on engine #2 that caused it to break off the wing, necessitating an emergency return to LHR. Upon landing fire took hold of the aircraft and almost totally destroyed it, save for the nose section which was salvaged. 5 people were killed, including a stewardess who went back into the burning fuselage to rescue an elderly lady. Neither survived.
On 29th August 1969 TWA Flight 840 was hijacked by the PFLP and the cockpit of the B707, N776TW, destroyed by a bomb.
Now, because these were the days before young airliners were written off because of minor - or extreme - damage, the cockpit of G-ARWE was mated to the fuselage of N776TW, creating a 'new' B707 that was registered N28714 and flew with TWA until March 1980. Often visited LHR, the scene of the nose section's lucky escape. Unlike many 707's, N28714 still exists as a mothballed frame at Davis Monthan AFB today, so this ill-fated combination of 707 parts lives on where many of its normal classmates were cut up.
I find it amazing the trouble they went to to create a workable and usable plane out of parts that could have sustained terminal unseen damage. Admirable though that they did without it ever having any further issues.