This video went out to my Patrons on Patreon 48 hours before going out publicly. Consider joining here from £1 per month: https://www.patreon.com/DisasterBreakdown
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Chloe_HowieCB
This is a de Havilland Comet. In aviation this plane is seen as one of the greatest technological leaps of the 20th century. The Comet was the world’s first Jet passenger plane. Not this particular comet this was a later variant of the plane. But the Comet family first took to the skies in the twilight days of the 1940s. As the world entered a new decade the plane was a symbol of British Engineering, a statement that Britain was cementing itself as a mainstay in the aviation industry, leading the way no less. As the first jet airliner developed behind closed doors, its arrival turned the heads of engineers all over the world. The comet could fly fast, slashing flight times between destinations. The comet could fly higher and provided a greater level of comfort to its passengers.
For half a decade, the comet went unchallenged in the aviation industry. It wasn’t until 1956 when the Soviet Union launched the Tupolev 104 and later with the arrival of the Boeing 707 and DC8 that the plane was met with some kind of competition. For what it all the Comet was worth though, it certainly wasn’t without tragedy. Breaking into new frontiers in the sky, the arrival of the comet seemed to present more technological hurdles than previously thought. The early days of this plane are marred with multiple accidents that claimed dozens of lives. In this video we’ll look a little deeper into the tragic history of the Comet focusing on a particular accident that signalled the beginning of the end of this iconic aircraft.
#aviation
00:00 Intro
01:43 BOAC Flight 781
09:23 Troubled Skies
13:00 South African Airways Flight 201
15:30 It Wasn’t The Square Windows
22:03 Meet The Comets
Sources:
https://www.baaa-acro.com/sites/default/files/import/uploads/2017/04/G-ALYP.pdf
https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19540110-1
https://web.archive.org/web/20170827210413/http://www.ntsb.org/Wiringcargodoorlite/Additional%20Aircraft%20Accident%20Reports_files/CometAAR-1.pdf
https://www.nms.ac.uk/explore-our-collections/stories/science-and-technology/comet-4c/#:~:text=The%20de%20Havilland%20Comet%20was,Did%20you%20know%3F&text=The%20Comet%20made%20the%20first,aircraft%20on%202%20May%201952.&text=The%20last%20civil%20Comet%20to,East%20Fortune%20in%20September%201981.
https://www.baesystems.com/en-uk/heritage/de-havilland-comet-3—4
https://simpleflying.com/last-de-havilland-comet-flight/
https://www.baaa-acro.com/crash/crash-de-havilland-dh106-comet-1-elbe-island-35-killed
http://www.dh-aircraft.co.uk/aircraft/dh106/comet2/
source
Just a reminder in case anyone has missed it. There will not be a video next Saturday as we move to a new schedule of producing some bigger videos which will se them released as and when they are completed. I am currently working on the next video right now and it should be a pretty big one, I look forward to sharing it with you. Will drop a community post this coming week to keep you updated.
This video went out to my Patrons on Patreon 48 hours before going out publicly. Consider joining here from £1 per month: https://www.patreon.com/DisasterBreakdown
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Chloe_HowieCB
amazing dude ❤ never disappoints with ur narration knowledge and graphics 🔥🔥 do u have an insta handle 😀 would be great 😄 all the best for the future looking forword to more amazing videos from u✨️👍
Death trap.
I learned about the BOAC 781 Flight from 1954 just a few years ago! The Captain, Alan Gibson was only 31 yet he was a seasoned Military Veteran. He was actually able to land a severely damaged and disabled plane.
But nobody on 781 stood a chance because the aluminum skin failed instantaneously.
Awesome as usual Chloe 💙
Why is G-ALYP (the Comet involved in flight 781) depicted as a Comet 4?? It was a Comet 1! Also the BOAC livery is the later livery, not the one on the Comet 1.
The ‘square’ windows did unquestionably act as stress concentrators, contributing to the propagation of fatigue cracks around the circumference of the airframe
It's very misleading to show thumbnails of the earlier and late model Comets. The Comet 4 in its many sub-marques was totally reliable and must not be confused with the square-windowed early models.
The first generation Comet, in spite of it's shortcomings was still a wonder to behold.
hey i was wondering if you could make united airlines flight 2885
The only complete surviving Comet 1 is exhibited at the RAF Museum, Cosford, along with the fractured piece of fuselage from G-ALYU from the pressurisation test at RAE Farnborough.
I was fortunate enough to watch the last Comet flying when I worked at Boscombe Down in the 1990s. It was a pleasure to see Comet 4c XS235 "Canopus" in the air. That aircraft is now preserved at Bruntingthorpe airfield which is only about 30 miles from where I now live.
Finally someone on youtube that speak facts with problem of comet and crash
WHY do you think why all plane creation companies AFTER crashed comet caiuse of holes in the planes are no longer holes instead all glue..
I assume if that were a prop job there would have been no problems with structural fatigue. It sounds like they underestimated the amount of wear or ehatever the word is created by the higher speeds. Boeing said they learned a lot from England's mistakes. Engineering however is not one of my better abilities.
Random but thank you for putting the name of the music on the video. I love the music and often go to listen to it later
I wonder if the redesign of the windows reinforced the myth.
Fascinating – thank you
The beautiful comet was way ahead of the field… The world lernt So many lessons from the British first jet liner, and the mistakes were paid for in Human lives 😢 brilliantly told , really enjoyed .. thx you . .
Excellent video sir
A very well-structured and thorough video into the history of the Comet… brilliant work!
Interesting, I haven't heard the theory that it was the rivets not the windows.
Also, when Nimrod was 'retired' in 2011, they were still building brand new aircraft. These were wheeled out the factory and destroyed.
yet, the comet standing next to the 707, the Boeing is a lightyears cooler shaped jetplane😊
This video was lovely ❤ I'm trans and I love hearing voices like mine and my friends', and this is precisely the sort of content we love ^~^ keep up the good work!
2:25 Burma*
Good content!
Thanks for another great interesting video!
GALYP departed Rome and was flying NORTHWEST. FIFY.
The very first crash of a commercial jet was a Canadian Pacific Comet in Karachi on March 3rd 1953. Pilot error is suspected in that crash.
Great chronicling of the Comet’s evolution and history. Very informative and interesting. It was a beautiful plane. I did not know about the Nimrod or the 4 versions. Thank you.
This thing looks modern on the outside. I can only imagine what people thought when this thing was introduced.
Couple that with post WWII optimism about the future and you've got a recipe for awesome.
It's really sad that such a pioneering technology was cut short by disaster. However it did make future aircraft much safer so perhaps something good came out of these accidents.
Great video as always Chloe!
I will never get over the fact that the MPA version of Comet was called 'Nimrod'.
Unfortunately the MRA.4 and AEW.3 version of Nimrod was so troubled you could call those who approved the procurement budget an absolute nimrod…
Another one from chlooeeeeeeeeeeee!
Comet seems an appropriate name for this aircraft, given its propensity to impact earth at speed having fallen from the sky in a ball of flames.
The postmortems for the Elba Comet disaster was the responsibility of the Italian authorities. An Italian pathologist found the similarities of injuries amongst the victims.
I can’t even imagine how that inspector felt after the second plane he gave a thumbs on, flew into pieces… 💔
It helps I love aviation ….but your voice…I’d listen to you read a phone book. If they’re even made anymore. Lol
What a beautiful plane ❤
I feel violated hearing a fellow Brit saying alluminum and not aluminium…..
Obviously sad, but fascinating story and video!
Can't wait for the new, bigger videos… 😃
I work every Saturday, and I've appreciated having one of your videos to reliably watch when I get home. I don't mind the change, whatever works best for you is best for us, but I wanted to say thank you for the post-work 20-minute cool downs you've been providing thus far. I'm excited to see what the expanded time frame does for your creative abilities.
This vid is gonna make me look up the Comet 1's manufacturing process, because now I'm wondering if they weren't pre-drilling the rivet holes, for instance, because they figured the skin was so thin, or something.
I feel obligated to remind you that the recommendation algorithm likes regular uploads
great video keep up the efforts 😊
Thanks!…keep them coming.