1977 British Airtours Boeing 707 crash
Boeing 707-436 · Loss of control during a training takeoff with simulated engine failure
From Glasgow Prestwick Airport, Scotland, United Kingdom to Glasgow Prestwick Airport, Scotland, United Kingdom
Event
- Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
- Accident
- Event fatalities
- 0 · all aircraft and ground
- Ground fatalities
- Unknown
- Occupants
- 4
- Survivors
- 4
- InjuriesFatal: death within 30 days. Serious: over 48 hours in hospital within a week, most broken bones, severe bleeding, nerve or organ damage, or serious burns. Minor: anything less. Glossary
- 1
- OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
- Airline
Boeing 707-436
- Aircraft type
- Boeing 707
- Category
- Airplane · from aircraft type
- RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
- G-APFK
- Operator
- British Airtours
- Onboard fatalities
- 0
- Route
- From Glasgow Prestwick Airport, Scotland, United KingdomTo Glasgow Prestwick Airport, Scotland, United Kingdom
Cause areas
- Personnel issues › Task performance
From the investigation findings the Wikipedia article reports, sorted into the NTSB's cause areas with AI assistance.
Approximate · Coordinates from the Wikipedia article; not checked against an investigation report.
From the Wikipedia article
On 17 March 1977, a British Airtours Boeing 707 being used for pilot training crashed and caught fire during its take-off roll at Glasgow Prestwick Airport. All four crew members on board survived.
Flight
On board were: a 29-year-old first officer trainee; a 48-year-old flight commander; a captain trainee who was acting as flight engineer; and a supervisory first officer seated behind the commander. After the standard pushback and engine starting procedures, the commander relayed the crosswind information from the control tower to the trainee first officer, who was in control for the take-off. The wind forecast was 18 knots, increasing to 35 knots. No flight number was assigned to the training session.
Accident
After receiving take-off clearance from the tower, the crew taxied the aircraft to runway 31 for departure. The trainee first officer commenced the take-off run by applying full power to the engines. As the crew rotated the aircraft from VR speed (125 knot), the flight commander pulled back engine No.1's thrust lever, saying "engine number one's failed" then "I have it". The crew applied left rudder trim and the aircraft climbed to 20 – 30 ft. The aircraft suddenly began to descend and the left wing dropped 20 degrees. The engine simulated as failing struck the left edge of runway 31. The aircraft then yawed and rolled to the right, and engine No.4 struck the ground. The aircraft slid sideways down the runway, tearing off all four engines and collapsing the landing gear while bursting into flames. It came to rest at the intersection with runway 3. During evacuation one crewman was injured.
Investigation and cause
Investigation
The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) began an investigation the day after the accident. According to the flight data and cockpit recorders, an engine failure would be simulated as an exercise for the two trainees to quickly demonstrate procedures for restarting or shutting down the failed engine. The AAIB determined the pilots did not deal with the failure as quickly as recommended. Usually, a pilot must deal with failed engine in 1 1/2 seconds, but the trainee first officer took 2–3 seconds.
Probable cause
After investigating the crash for one year and four months, the AAIB published its final report in September 1978, stating the probable cause of the accident:
"A loss of control which resulted from a delay in taking full corrective action during a simulated outboard engine failure exercise during take-off."
Text from the Wikipedia article “1977 British Airtours Boeing 707 crash” (revision 1364386849, retrieved 2026-09-18) by its authors, under CC BY-SA 4.0. Extracted as plain text: references, tables, images and some sections are left out. Read the article
Sources
Wikipedia article: 1977 British Airtours Boeing 707 crash
- Revision
- 1364386849 · 2026-07-16 · retrieved 2026-09-18
- Wikidata
- Q48809100
- Licence
- Text CC BY-SA 4.0, by the article's authors; Wikidata CC0; town positions GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where each value comes from
- Record
- Wikipedia article "1977 British Airtours Boeing 707 crash" (page 56158500, revision 1364386849)
- Date
- Wikipedia infobox: date
- Place and country
- Wikipedia infobox: site
- Map position
- Wikipedia article coordinates
- Aircraft, operator and route
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft type, registration, operator, origin and destination; route airports from the linked airport articles' Wikidata codes (OurAirports)
- Operation
- operator is an airline according to Wikidata
- Fatalities
- Wikipedia infobox: aircraft fatalities
- Ground fatalities
- not stated in the Wikipedia infobox
- Summary
- Wikipedia infobox: summary
Source notes (1)
- Wikipedia · Facts from the Wikipedia article's infobox and coordinates, not checked against an investigation report. Independent review pending.