From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses of BEA, see
Bea.
British European Airways (BEA)
or British European Airways Corporation was a British airline which existed from 1946
until 1974. The airline operated European and North African routes
from airports around the United Kingdom. BEA was the largest
domestic airline within the United Kingdom, operating flights to
major British cities, including London, Manchester, Edinburgh, Belfast and Glasgow. BEA ceased operations in 1974 when it
was merged with the British Overseas
Airways Corporation to form British Airways. BEA was headquartered
in the BEAline house in Ruislip, London Borough of
Hillingdon.[1]
History
British European Airways Douglas DC-3 Dakota freighter in
1951
BEA Vickers Viking 1B G-AHPO "Venturer" at Manchester in August
1952 wearing the "Speedkey" colour scheme
On 1 January 1946 the British European Airways division of the
British Overseas
Airways Corporation was formed to take over the services from
the United Kingdom to continental Europe that had been operated by
the Royal Air
Force.[2]
On the 1 August 1946 the 1946 Civil Aviation Act was given
royal assent and the independent British scheduled airlines were nationalised
and BEA became the British European Airways Corporation to operate
all Domestic and European flights. [2][3]
On 1 February 1947 a number of former independents were merged
into BEA; Railway Air Services which had
been an independent airline since 1937[4],
Isle of Man Air Services that
had been formed in 1937[5],
Scottish Airways had been formed in 1937 from the merger of
Northern and Scottish Airways and Highland Airways.[6]
BEA was the first customer for British-built short- and
medium-haul airliners of the 1950s and 1960s, including the Vickers
Viking, Vickers Viscount, Vickers
Vanguard, BAC One-Eleven 500 and Hawker Siddeley Trident.
The airline carried out trials with a Helicopter Experiment
Unit, operating mail services in East Anglia during 1948 and a
passenger service from Cardiff via Wrexham to Liverpool (Speke) Airport in 1950.
Subsequently the airline formed a separate helicopter airline, BEA Helicopters, to operate services
between Penzance and the Isles of Scilly.
In 1969 BEA formed a charter subsidiary BEA Airtours
to provide inclusive tour holiday charters. BEA ceased operations
in 1974 when it was merged with the British Overseas
Airways Corporation to form British Airways. The airline IATA code
was BE with the callsign Bealine.
Aircraft
operated
BEA Airspeed Ambassador ("Elizabethan Class") at Manchester in July
1953
BEA Vickers 953 Vanguard at Manchester in 1965
Incidents and accidents
Viscount 701 G-ALWE "RMA Discovery" at Manchester in 1953. This
aircraft crashed on approach to the airport on 14 March 1957
- On 5 January 1953, Vickers Viking G-AJDL crashed on approach to Belfast-Nutts Corner Airport due to an
error of judgement by the pilot. 27 out of the 35 people on board
died.[7]
- On 20 January 1956, Vickers Viscount G-AMOM crashed on
take-off from Blackbushe Airport on a training
flight.[8]
- On 14 March 1957, Flight "Bealine 411" operated by Vickers
Viscount G-ALWE crashed on approach to Manchester
Airport due to a flap failure caused by metal fatigue. All 20
occupants on board died, and two on the ground.[9]
- On 28 September 1957, de Havilland Heron G-AOFY, on an air
ambulance flight, crashed on approach to Glenegedale Airport, Islay, in bad
weather. The three occupants, two crew and one nurse, were
killed.
- On 23 October 1957, Vickers Viscount G-AOJA from London Heathrow Airport crashed
after overshooting on approach to Belfast-Nutts Corner Airport. The cause was not
determined. All seven occupants died.[10]
- On 19 November 1957, Vickers Viscount G-AOHP crashed at Ballerup after the failure of
three engines on approach to Copenhagen Airport. The cause was a
malfunction of the anti-icing system on the aircraft.[11]
- Munich air disaster – on 6 February
1958, British European Airways Flight "Bealine 609" crashed in a
blizzard on its third attempt to take off from an icy runway at the
Munich-Riem airport in Germany. On board
the plane was the Manchester United
football team, along with supporters and
journalists. Twenty-three of the 43 passengers on board the
aircraft died. The charter flight was operated by British European
Airways with an Airspeed Ambassador G-ALZU 'Lord
Burghley'.
- On 28 April 1958, Vickers Viscount G-AORC crashed at
Craigie, Ayrshire on approach to Prestwick Airport when the
pilot misread the altimeter by 10,000 feet.[12]
- On 22 October 1958, Flight "Bealine 142" operated by Vickers
Viscount G-ANHC was hit by an Italian Air Force
F-86 Sabre and crashed
with the loss of all 31 on board.
- On 5 January 1960, Vickers Viscount G-AMNY was damaged
beyond economic repair at Luqa Airport when it
departed the runway after landing following a loss of hydraulic
pressure.[13]
- On 7 January 1960, Vickers Viscount G-AOHU was damaged
beyond economic repair when the nose wheel collapsed on landing at
Heathrow Airport. A fire then
developed and burnt out the fuselage. There were no casualties
among the 59 people on board.[14]
- On 21 December 1961, De Havilland Comet 4B G-ARJM stalled
on take-off from Esenboga Airport, Ankara, Turkey. The aircraft was
being operated for Cyprus Airways. The aircraft was
destroyed, with the loss of six crew and 20 passengers.
- On 27 October 1965, Vickers Vanguard G-APEE on a flight
from Edinburgh crashed on to the runway during an approach in bad
weather at London Heathrow Airport. All 36
on board died.
- On 12 October 1967, Flight "Bealine 284" operated by De Havilland
Comet 4 G-ARCO on behalf of Cyprus Airways exploded in mid-air over
the Mediterranean and crashed into the sea with the loss of all 66
on board. The explosion was caused by a device under a passenger
seat.
BEA Trident 1C G-ARPC built 1962 and destroyed in a fire at
Heathrow in 1975.
- On 2 October 1971, British European Airways Flight "Bealine
706", operated by Vickers Vanguard G-APEC, crashed near
Aarsele, Belgium following a mid-air explosive
decompression caused by a fatigue failure. All 63 on board
died.
- On 18 June 1972, British European
Airways Flight "Bealine 548", operated by a British European
Airways (BEA) Hawker Siddeley Trident 1C G-ARPI, crashed two
minutes after takeoff from Heathrow Airport, killing all 118
passengers and crew. The crash occurred close to the town of Staines, Middlesex.
- On 19 January 1973, Vickers Vanguard G-AOHI crashed into
Ben More while on a test flight.
All four people on board were killed.[15]
Other
facts of interest
- On 10 June 1965 a BEA Trident 1 (G-ARPR) operating Flight
"Bealine 343" from Paris to London Heathrow Airport, made
the world's first fully-automatic landing of a commercial airliner
with fare-paying passengers.
In popular
culture
- The Beatles
occasionally flew BEA. On one flight, Ringo Starr held a “TLES”
sign next to the BEA logo on the airplane door, spelling out
BEATLES. A similar change to the logo was made at the end of A Hard Day's Night.
- The BEA is mentioned in Bill Wyman's 1981 song 'Je suis un rock
star'.
Notes
References
- Phil Lo Bao (1989). "An
Illustrated History of British European Airways. Browcom. ISBN
0946141398.
- Merton Jones, A. (1972).
British Independent Airlines since 1946, Volume One. UK:
LAAS International.
- Halford-MacLeod, Guy. (2006).
British Airlines Volume 1: 1946-1951. UK: Tempus
Publishing. ISBN 0 7524 3696
1.
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