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G-APDL. de Havilland DH-106 Comet 4. c/n 6413.
This aircraft was built at the de Havilland Hatfield facility Entered onto the British Aircraft Register as G-APDL - May 02, 1957 Registered to British Overseas Airways Corporation First flown as G-APDL - April 27, 1959 Powered by Rolls Royce Avon Mk 524 turbojet engines Delivered to British Overseas Airways Corporation (B.O.A.C.) - May 06, 1959 Operated the inaugural London (Heathrow) - Sydney (Kingsford Smith) service - November 01, 1959 Route: London - Beirut - Karachi - Singapore - Sydney This aircraft was one of six Comet 4 aircraft wet-leased by Qantas Empire Airways from 1959 to 1963 Qantas added additional Australia - United Kingdom weekly services with the chartered Comets The aircraft were operated on the London (Heathrow) - Singapore - London (Heathrow) sector The inaugural Qantas Comet service was operated London (Heathrow) - Singapore - November 07, 1959 Route: London - Athens - Teheran - Colombo - Kuala Lumpur - Singapore The aircraft carried 'Qantas' titles on the cabin roof in place of the standard 'B.O.A.C.' titles Repeater titles were sometimes applied to the pinion fuel tanks All aircraft were crewed by B.O.A.C. flight and cabin crew The exact dates when this particular aircraft was wet-leased by Qantas is not known The final Qantas Comet 4 revenue service was flown Singapore - London as QF745-053 - May 30, 1963 Cancelled from the British Aircraft Register - October 01, 1965 Leased to East African Airways - October 08, 1965 Entered onto the Kenyan Aircraft Register as 5Y-ADD - October 08, 1965 Returned to B.O.A.C. at end of lease - March 1967 Cancelled from the Kenyan Aircraft Register - ? Entered onto the British Aircraft Register as G-APDL - April 03, 1967 Sold to Dan-Air Services Ltd - January 14, 1969 The aircraft was damaged beyond repair in landing accident at Newcastle (Woolsington) - October 07, 1970 The crew failed to carry out a proper pre-landing check whilst practising a flapless landing The aircraft landed on the runway with the wheels retracted Four crew members and five passengers were uninjured Cancelled from the British Aircraft Register - April 01, 1971 Broken up on site at Newcastle by Dan-Air |
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G-APDL. Qantas - in the basic BOAC livery at London Heathrow Airport, date unknown. (R. N. Smith Collection Copyright Image 1950-055.) |