Vickers Viscount G-AOHI crash on Ben More, 19 Jan 1973

Thanks for the information, Wallace. I’ve since joined that forum that Mike Durward posted on, however, it would appear that he’s not posted there in quite a while now.

Would that number of bags adequately collect most of the aircraft remains? From newspaper reports I’ve looked at, remains were found quite far down the mountain, including one of the engines which was discovered by a journalist who climbed the mountain soon after the incident. I’m curious to know if indeed there are any remains left, I suspect there may be, but nothing of any magnitude.

I’ve asked for a copy of the report from the AAIB. Presumably the Viscount crashed into the north side of the mountain, as it was returning back into Glasgow airspace apparently.

I hope this is of use to you.

G-AOHI 19-1-73 BEA Ben More
Remains were airlifted off the hill by helicopter to Glasgow Airport, An estimated 90 bags were required for the operation. The aircraft hit a snow covered mountain in a blizzard whilst on a test flight from Glasgow where work had been carried out on the aerolons. Probable destination for the remains is RAE Farnborough.

http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19730119-2

Date: 19 JAN 1973
Time: 14:31 UTC
Type: Vickers 802 Viscount
Operator: British European Airways – BEA
Msn / C/n: 158
Year built: 1957
Crew: 2 fatalities / 2 on board
Passengers: 2 fatalities / 2 on board
Total: 4 fatalities / 4 on board
Location: 56 km (35 mls) N of Glasgow (United Kingdom)
Nature: Test
Departure airport: Glasgow International Airport (GLA)
Destination airport: Glasgow International Airport (GLA)
Narrative:Viscount G-AOHI departed Glasgow at 14:22 GMT on a test flight which was to last about 15 minutes. The crew intended to carry out the flight in visual conditions. Weather conditions however, were marginal: rain and snow with 6km visibility, 8/8 clouds at 4000 feet and strong winds (50-60 knots) at 2000 feet.The plane had climbed to an altitude of 4000 feet when it crashed near the peak of Ben More mountain, 35 miles north of Glasgow.PROBABLE CAUSE: “The pilot did not maintain a safe altitude and gave insufficient attention to navigation when flying VFR into an area of snow covered high ground in marginal weather conditions.”
http://homepages.which.net/~alan.marshall/newcount/news/ICspr05.txt
Another two of our late colleagues who have been in the news recently are Wally Durward and Stan Kemp who died, together with two ground engineers, when Viscount G-AOHI crashed on Ben More in the Highlands in January 1973 during an air test. I well remember the event, having been posted to the Viscount at Glasgow as a new command about a month earlier! David Whittick, engineer Bob Elrick and Wally‘s son Mike organised, and held, a service at, Crianlarach Church on January 19th 2005 to dedicate an inscribed cairn, which has been installed in the churchyard in memory of the crew. The service was attended by more than seventy ex-colleagues and family members, who subsequently retired to the local village hall to exchange some memories and to enjoy some Scottish largesse.

http://www.airliners.net/open.file/0643242/L/
The photographer Mike Durward: My father crashed this into Ben More, Perthshire on 19th January 1973.

http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=109651
7th April 2004
‘The crash happened at 14:32 on the 19/01/1973. My father was the captain of the flight. ( Capt Walter Durward). He had 8,346 hours total flying time of which 1,835 had been on Viscounts. All were flown in Scotland. He was an extremly experienced pilot. If any one would like to see the full copy of the CAA report please feel free to mail me. I will send it by post. Only on the condition that it is returned to me, as it is the only thing I have.
Cheers Mike’

Martin