The 1956 Scottish Airlines Malta air disaster was an air accident that happened on 18 February 1956 when a Scottish Airlines

Scottish Airlines

Scottish Airlines Limited was formed in 1946 as a subsidiary of Scottish Aviation Limited. The airline commenced worldwide passenger and cargo charter flights from bases at Prestwick and Stansted...

 Avro York

Avro York

The Avro York was a British transport aircraft that was derived from the Second World War Lancaster heavy bomber, and used in both military and airliner roles between 1943 and 1964.-Design and development:...

 crashed after take off from Malta International Airport

Malta International Airport

Malta International Airport is the only airport in Malta and it serves the whole Maltese Archipelago. It is located between Luqa and Gudja. It occupies the location of the former RAF Luqa and was completely re-furbished, becoming fully operational on 25 March 1992...

 on a flight to London Stansted Airport

London Stansted Airport

-Cargo:-Statistics:-Infrastructure:-Terminal and satellite buildings:Stansted is the newest passenger airport of all the main London airports. The terminal is an oblong glass building, and is separated in to three areas: Check-in concourse, arrivals and departures...

. The disaster killed 50 passengers and crew on board the aircraft.

Accident

The accident happened on 18 February 1956 when Avro York registration G-ANSY took off from Malta International Airport

Malta International Airport

Malta International Airport is the only airport in Malta and it serves the whole Maltese Archipelago. It is located between Luqa and Gudja. It occupies the location of the former RAF Luqa and was completely re-furbished, becoming fully operational on 25 March 1992...

 at 12:21 UTC time on a flight to London Stansted Airport

London Stansted Airport

-Cargo:-Statistics:-Infrastructure:-Terminal and satellite buildings:Stansted is the newest passenger airport of all the main London airports. The terminal is an oblong glass building, and is separated in to three areas: Check-in concourse, arrivals and departures...

 with 45 passengers and five crew on board. Shortly after becoming airborne the boost enrichment capsule in the carburetor

Carburetor

A carburetor , carburettor, or carburetter is a device that blends air and fuel for an internal combustion engine. It is sometimes shortened to carb in North America and the United Kingdom....

 of number one engine failed and the engine caught fire. The pilots did not feather the propeller as the aircraft slowly climbed to 700–800 feet, then the crew tried a left turn to return to the airport. Shortly after retracting the flaps the aircraft went a nose-up attitude at very low flying speed. This resulted in a stall

Stall (flight)

In fluid dynamics, a stall is a reduction in the lift coefficient generated by a foil as angle of attack increases. This occurs when the critical angle of attack of the foil is exceeded...

, causing the aircraft to go into a dive and it crashed into the ground near Zurrieq

Zurrieq

Żurrieq is one of the oldest towns in Malta, and has a population of 12,000 inhabitants . Żurrieq is situated in the South West of Malta. The first documentation about it being a parish dates back to 1436 dedicated to St. Catherine of Alexandria. The island of Filfla is administratively a part of...

, Malta

Malta

Malta , officially known as the Republic of Malta , is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, south of Sicily, east of Tunisia and north of Libya, with Gibraltar to the west and Alexandria to the east.Malta covers just over in...

killing all 50 passengers and crew on board the aircraft.

Cause

The mechanical cause was failure of the number one engine. However, this failure alone did not cause the accident which was caused by loss of speed and consequent loss of control through an error of judgement of the pilot.