BBC 1 9 pm this evening 10.01.05

Sadly, I only caught a few minutes at the start, but did see a very creditable shot of the aircraft’s passenger cabin being prepared at Manchester. Absolute spit of an old Airspeed publicity shot I have – but startlingly in colour.

Shame that a aircraft type so well-liked by crews and passengers ended with such a poor safety record.

The article in last weeks Radio Times doesn’t say what plane was used, only that they found it at a Lithuanian airport and it was used for crew training, also that the take off scenes were filmed in the UK using a scale model. The post crash footage was created by cutting up bits of other discarded planes and arranged to look like the real thing.

Without having seen this programme I thought I might add that this accident happened at the old Munich-Riem airport (closed in 1992), which has had (amongst others) a huge trade fair center built on top of it. I therefore doubt that any sequences were filmed there (only the control tower and a part of the terminal building survives)

Yes, the program was certainly well done, and seemd a very well balanced dramatisation – no sensationalism, no unnecessary or gratuitous scenes etc.

Again it begs the question why did they make three attempts to take off, given the engine problems and the atrocious weather. However, I guess the situation needs to be put into the context of the practices of the time, rather considered in the context of today’s rules and regs.

The b&w footage (after the dramatisation) of the various tests on the effect of water on runways, involving Canberras and an Ambassador were impressive, and proof that those killed in the accident did not die in vain, as much was learnt as a result of the accident.

For once a well presented and thought provoking program from the Beeb, with no obvious victimisation of anyone involved.

Paul F

Funny old world innit. Being born in 1959 my memory may be a hazy on this. However afaik due to the events of the crash we ended up renting the Manchester Guardians Sports Correspondants house. Unwitting start to a lifelong interest in things that fly.

So there you go.

(Sadly both parents not about to fully corroberate this )

(edited to make some sort of sense)

According to the Manchester Evening News website

“The crash wreck was constructed on a Lithuanian airfield with the inside of the plane built on a set. A combination of a model and computer- generated imagery was also involved, plus the cockpit of a real plane in a museum”

I deleted my post as it had been rendered superfluous by your reply. – and it was the wrong type anyway…..

I was only 2 out 😉

Definitely shots of the An going down the runway though – even if it was CGI

The cyrillic captions on the instruments were another give-away

looked like a modified Antonov An 26 to me

Sorry, I think An-24 – no ramp at the back!

Have just finished watching this and I was very impressed by the BBC’s creditable attempt to recreate an Airspeed Ambassador, as indeed there is only one survivor – at Duxford. They used computer graphics and a model, but most importantly they repainted (or half repainted?) an Antonov An-24 in full period BEA livery, even down to correct serial G-ALZU. Wherever possible, they hid the fact that it only has one tail fin, whereas the Ambassador has three. However, there was one view taken from above where it clearly has THREE, so presume this was computer-altered….well done BBC! Of course they showed real film of a BEA Ambassador landing and taking off in B/W.
Now this begs the question, where was this ‘BEA An-24’ filmed and why has no one managed to get any photos of it? Looking at the cockpit window arrangement from inside, it was obviously the An-24 filmed from inside.
I tried to watch the credits at the end and I am guessing this was a former TAROM machine in Romania, but hopefully someone reading this may be able to confirm. Also, what aircraft was the ‘wreck’ of at the end? A thoroughly enjoyable effort and as authentic as you will get!

I’m sure i read somewhere the filming was done in Czech republic or similar, and they found an eastern bloc aircraft of similar appearance for the external shots and CGI for the take off scenes.

Not sure if the cockpit shots were filmed at Duxford though. Anybody know more….?

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I believe it wasdone using CGI.

Watching it right now…. obvious question arose when they had the team boarding the (real) aircraft in various scenes set both here at Manchester Ringway and Munich – it was obviously a full size aircraft used, and it sure looked like an Ambassador but I was under the impression that there is only one surviving example which is at Duxford? And googling that shows it to be in pieces?

Not being knowledgable on Ambassadors much, can anyone shed any light on how they filmed those shots? The cgi crash sequences were obviously so, and I would imagine that the airfield used for filming must have been a UK one (Duxford perhaps?)…

I’m intrigued….