British South American Airways (BSAA) or British South American Airways Corporation was a British state-run airline of the 1940s. Originally named British Latin American Air Lines (BLAIR) it was split off from British Overseas Airways Corporation to operate their South Atlantic routes. It commenced transatlantic services in March 1946, with a BSAA plane making the first operational flight from London Heathrow Airport.
The airline operated mostly Avro aircraft: Yorks, Lancastrians and Tudors, and flew to Bermuda, the West Indies and the western coast of South America. BSAA was planning to introduce de Havilland Comet jet airliners, but in 1949 it was merged back into BOAC.
During its short existence BSAA seems to have suffered more than its fair share of mysterious accidents. The loss without trace of the Tudors
List of aircraft
Avro Lancastrian
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Avro Tudor
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Avro York
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Star Tiger and Star Ariel
The Star Tiger and Star Ariel were two Avro Tudor IV passenger aircraft lost over the Atlantic.
Star Tiger
On January 30, 1948, the Star Tiger (registered as G-AHNP) had logged just over 500 flight hours. The plane was flown and commanded by Capt. B.W. McMillan, and copiloted by both Capt. David Colby and C. Ellison, all experienced pilots. The Star Tiger was en route from England to Bermuda, but had a fuel layover in the Azores. At 03:15 hours on January 31, Capt. McMillan requested a bearing on Bermuda. The request was routine, and there was no panic or cause for alarm. After receiving the bearings, Capt. McMillan gave an estimated arrival time at 05:00. That was the last contact with the Star Tiger. The distance from Azores to Bermuda is about 2,230 miles (3,588 km).
Bermuda went on the alert after 05:00. The Civil Air Ministry launched a search and full scale investigation, but no signs of the Star Tiger, or her 29 passengers and crew were ever found. A merchant ship, SS Troubador, had reported seeing a low flying aircraft with lights blinking about halfway between Bermuda and the entrance to Delaware Bay, which meant that if the aircraft was Star Tiger, then it had gone well off-course from Bermuda. Star Tiger had reported in one of its messages that it was flying at an altitude of 2,000 feet, ostensibly to control a mishap should the cabin lose pressure, but at that altitude there would have been no time to issue a distress call should the aircraft have been forced to ditch at sea.
It needs to be borne in mind that 2,000 ft is a relatively low altitude to be flying without precise radio navigation aids, or visual references.[citation needed] Altitude would have been determined by barometric altimeter. Since air pressure will rise, or fall over large distances, errors were likely to creep in. It is not implausible that the aircraft was simply flown inadvertently into the sea in total darkness.
The Civil Air Ministry later issued this press release into the incident:
In closing this report it may truly be said that no more baffling problem has ever been presented for investigation. In the complete absence of any reliable evidence as to either the nature or the cause of the accident of Star Tiger the Court has not been able to do more than suggest possibilities, none of which reaches the level even of probability. Into all activities which involve the co-operation of man and machine two elements enter of a very diverse character [sic]. There is an incalculable element of the human equation dependent upon imperfectly known factors; and there is the mechanical element subject to quite different laws. A breakdown may occur in either separately or in both in conjunction. Or some external cause may overwhelm both man and machine. What happened in this case will never be known and the fate of Star Tiger must remain an unsolved mystery. [1]
Among the passengers was Air Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham, a hero of World War II, formerly Air Officer Commander-in-Chief, 2nd Tactical Air Force during the Battle of Normandy.
Star Ariel
Registered as G-AGRE, Star Ariel departed Bermuda for Kingston, Jamaica (c. 1,250 mi./ 2,012 km.) on January 17, 1949, carrying seven crewmembers and thirteen passengers. Shortly after take-off, her pilot, Capt. J. C. McPhee, radioed in the following report;
- "I DEPARTED FROM KINDLEY FIELD AT 8:41 A.M. HOURS. MY ETA AT KINGSTON 2:10 P.M. HOURS. I AM FLYING IN GOOD VISIBILITY AT 18,000 FT. I FLEW OVER 150 MILES SOUTH OF KINDLEY FIELD AT 9:32 HRS. MY ETA AT 30° N IS 9:37 HRS. WILL YOU ACCEPT CONTROL?"
And then later;
- "I WAS OVER 30° N AT 9:37 I AM CHANGING FREQUENCY TO MRX."
Those were the last transmissions from the Star Ariel, and she was never heard from again. Over 70 aircraft and many ships were involved in a search between one hundred and five hundred miles south of Bermuda, search vessels including the aircraft carriers USS Kearsage and USS Leyte, and the battleship USS Missouri, involving upwards of 13,000 men. No sign of debris, oil slicks, or wreckage were ever found. Both incidents later prompted the use of the Tudor IV aircraft to be discontinued.
Bermuda Triangle connection
The loss of both aircraft without a trace, plus the unexplained vanishings of a DC-3 south of Miami on December 27, 1948, and the loss of Flight 19 on December 5, 1945 led theorists to speculate that something unusual was happening in the waters of the western Atlantic. The questions and theories that arose led to the creation of the Bermuda Triangle legend.[1]
New York Times articles
- "Hope Wanes in Sea Search For 28 Aboard Lost Airliner", January 31, 1948.
- "72 Planes Search Sea For Airliner", January 19, 1949.
See also
Notes
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