“As the aircraft stopped, the aft cabin was suddenly filled with thick black smoke which induced panic amongst passengers in that area, with a consequent rapid forward movement down the aisle.
“Many passengers stumbled and collapsed in the aisle, forcing others to go over the seat-backs towards the centre cabin area, which was clear up until the time the right overwing exit was opened.
“A passenger from the front row of seats looked back as he waited to exit the aircraft, and was aware of a mass of people tangled together and struggling in the centre section, apparently incapable of moving forward. He stated ‘people were howling and screaming’.”
That horrifying account of unfolding tragedy is taken from the official report into the last fatal accident involving British Airways.
On 22 August 1985, a Boeing 737 belonging to BA’s charter subsidiary, British Airtours, accelerated along the runway at Manchester airport, destination Corfu. An engine failure started a fire. The pilots aborted the take-off, stopped the plane and ordered an emergency evacuation.
In the ensuing chaos, only 83 of the passengers and crew made it out alive. One initial survivor died six days later, taking the death toll to 55 – most of them killed by a mix of poisonous gases.
“Many survivors from the front six rows of seats described a roll of thick black smoke clinging to the ceiling and moving rapidly forwards along the cabin,” the accident report continues.
“On reaching the forward bulkheads it curled down, began moving aft, lowering and filling the cabin. Some of these passengers became engulfed in the smoke despite their close proximity to the forward exits.
“All described a single breath as burning and painful, immediately causing choking. Some used clothing or hands over their mouths in an attempt to filter the smoke; others attempted to hold their breath. They experienced drowsiness and disorientation, and were forced to feel their way along the seat rows towards the exits, whilst being jostled and pushed.”
Almost 40 years later, on 2 January 2024, a Japan Airlines Airbus A350 was cleared to land on runway 34R at Tokyo’s main airport, Haneda. A small Dash-8 propeller plane belonging to the Japanese coastguard had been told to hold short of the runway but – we now know from the release of air-traffic control messages – strayed onto…
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