"Hello there viewers...Keiko here again...*Keiko proceeds to go and currently say this, and this is also while she is also proceeding to go and traditionally bow to the viewers as usual. To which Keiko then proceeds to go both bring her attention and as well as her eyesight back up again, in order to go and continue to address the viewers. Keiko also now proceeds to go and briefly clear her throat, as Keiko then proceeds to go and continue, to proceed to properly address the viewers*...
Now then viewers, for this chapter I will once again be covering several more transportation related accidents in history...And for this particular chapter viewers as like the last one, we will be covering another three of them...
And each of them, as shown by the chapter title of this particular chapter, is going to be covering three aviation accidents, two of which were attributed in some way, to a case of 'Explosive Decompression'...
And the third one is going to be another aviation accident, of which was attributed in some way, to a case of 'Improper De Icing And Pilot Error'...
Now then viewers, lets begin with the first of the three aviation accidents...
And for this one, we will start by going all the way back, to January 10, 1954...
And on this particular day...British Overseas Airways Corporation. Or BOAC as it is known for short, which in this case was Flight 781...Which was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Kallang Airport, in Singapore, to London Heathrow Airport, in London, England...
With intermediate stopovers in Bangkok International Airport in Bangkok, Thailand. Rangoon Airport, in Rangoon, Burma. Dum Dum Airport, in Calcutta, India. Jinnah Airport, in Karachi, Pakistan. Bahrain Airport, in Muharraq, Bahrain. Beirut Airport, in Beirut, Lebanon. And finally Ciampino Airport, in Rome, Italy...
And on this particular day, the aircraft that was being used to operate this immense multiple stopover flight, was a de Havilland DH-106 Comet 1...
And on board Flight 781, were four pilots, 2 flight attendants, and 29 passengers...
The captain of Flight 781, was 31 year old Alan Gibson, who also happened to be one of BOAC's youngest pilots He had joined BOAC in 1946, after flying in the Royal Air Force during World War II. He had considerable flying experience, and had logged more than 6,500 flight hours. He had previously been involved in an accident in 1951, in which a Hermes aircraft was forced to make an emergency landing, and he was later praised for his flying conduct during this accident flight...
The first officer on Flight 781, was 33 year old William John Bury. And he had flown a total of approximately 4,900 hours. The second officer was 27 year old Francis Charles Macdonald. And the radio operator was 32 year old Luke Patrick McMahon. Which both had logged 720 flying hours and close to 3,600 flying hours, respectively...
And as for what wound up happening with regard to the crash that would result involving Flight 781?...
Well shortly after takeoff from Rome Italy, a metal fatigue crack that had resulted from a small manufacturing defect when the aircraft was first constructed. And this crack had gone unnoticed in the light aluminium skin of the Comet in question, wound up reaching its failure point. Which since the crack was in the roof of the aircraft, the resulting failure wound up literally blowing a good portion of the forward section of the roof off in flight. This was then quickly followed by both the tail section and the forward portion of the aircraft proceeding to violently break apart in mid air. And as I have recently covered in the explanations of Lauda Air Flight 004, and as well as China Airlines Flight 611, as well as Trans World Airlines Flight 800. Flight 781 had also suffered a catastrophic in flight breakup...
This was then followed by the now massive debris pieces of Flight 781s, to fall into the sea just off of the coast of the island of Elba. The impact killing all 29 passengers and 6 crew members on board instantly...
And now viewers, we will be moving onto the second of the three aviation accidents of this chapter...And for this one, we will be going all the way back, to April 8, 1954...
And on this particular date South African Airways Flight 201, which at the time was also being operated by yet another de Havilland Comet 1...
Now I know what you viewers are mostly likely now wondering, and that is is this Comet crash related to that of the previously mentioned BOAC Flight 781? And the answer to that question viewers is yes, as interestingly enough this Comet also wound up disintegrating and breaking up in flight shortly after takeoff from Ciampino Airport in Rome, Italy...
Only on this particular flight it was carrying 14 passengers and 7 crew members...
And instead of the final destination being London, Flight 201 was instead heading to Johannesburg Jan Smuts Airport, in Johannesburg, South Africa...
And like that of the previously mentioned BOAC Flight 781. The crash of South African Airways Flight 201, was also caused by a fatigue crack in the skin of the aircraft...
And also like that of BOAC Flight 781, all 14 passengers and 7 crew members on board were killed...
And now viewers, we will be moving onto the third and final aviation accident of this chapter...And for this one, we will be a bit forward in time, to January 13, 1982...
And on this particular date, Air Florida Flight 90, with call sign 'Palm 90.' Which was a scheduled domestic passenger flight operated from Washington National Airport, to Fort Lauderdale's Hollywood International Airport, with an intermediate stopover at Tampa International Airport. And at the time, the aircraft being used to operate the route, was a Boeing 737-222...
On board Air Florida Flight 90, were 74 passengers, 3 flight attendants, and 2 pilots...
The Captain of Air Florida Flight 90, was 34 year old Larry Michael Wheaton. Who had been hired by Air Florida in October 1978 as a first officer. And he was then promoted to captain in August 1980. And at the time of the accident, he had about 8,300 total flight hours, with 2,322 hours of commercial jet experience, of which all had been logged at Air Florida. He had also logged 1,752 hours on the Boeing 737, wit 1,100 of those hours serving as captain...
And diving a bit deeper into Captain Wheaton, he was described by fellow pilots as a quiet person, with good operational skills and knowledge, who had operated well in high-workload flying situations. His leadership style had been described as similar to those of other pilots. On May 8, 1980, though, he was suspended after failing a Boeing 737 company line check and was found to be unsatisfactory in these areas. These were adherence to regulations, checklist usage, flight procedures such as departures and autopilot usage, and also approaches and landings. He did however wind up resuming his duties after passing a retest on August 27, 1980. On April 24, 1981, he had then received an unsatisfactory grade on a company recurrent proficiency check. When he had wound up showing deficiencies in memory items, as well as knowledge of aircraft systems, and aircraft limitations. And three days later, he satisfactorily passed a proficiency recheck...
The First Officer of Air Florida Flight 90, was 31 year old Roger Allen Pettit. And he was hired by Air Florida on October 3, 1980, as a first officer on the Boeing 737. At the time of the accident, he had logged around 3,353 flight hours, with 992 with Air Florida, all of which had been on the Boeing 737. And from October 1977 to October 1980, he had been a fighter pilot in the US Air Force, having accumulated 669 hours as a flight examiner, instructor pilot, and ground instructor in an F-15 fighter unit...
And diving a bit more into First Officer Pettit. He was described by personal friends and pilots as a witty, bright, outgoing individual with an excellent command of physical and mental skills in aircraft piloting. Those who had flown with him during stressful flight operations said that during those times, he remained the same witty, sharp individual, 'who knew his limitations.' And several persons said that he was the type of pilot who would not hesitate to speak up if he knew something specific was wrong with flight operations. But unfortunately this would wind up not making any difference in the crash that would follow with Air Florida Flight 90...
And speaking of which with regard to the cause of the crash of Air Florida Flight 90?...
Well during the executing of the takeoff checklist, the pilots did not wind up turning on the 737s engine de icing systems...
And as for why this is a such a big deal? Well as this flight was being conducted in winter blizzard conditions, it was mandatory to engage and turn on the engine de icing system...
In fact you can even hear on the Cockpit Voice Recorder, First Officer Pettit asking about the engine anti ice. To which Captain Wheaton replied with a rote answer of 'Off.' And when you wind up factoring this into the resulting takeoff roll, as well as quite a few other significant factors. Then it is really no wonder as to why Air Florida Flight 90 wound up getting only a max of 352 feet off the ground. Before it wound up stalling, and then wound up crashing into the 14th street bridge over the Potomac River, just after Air Florida Flight 90 was only airborne for 30 seconds...
And as Air Florida Flight 90 crashed into the 14th street bridge, it wound up crushing several cars that had been on the bridge at the time of the crash. Which wound up killing four people, and as Air Florida Flight 90 then crashed into the Potomac River. The impact wound up killing 74 of the 78 passengers and crew on board. With only 4 passengers and 1 of the flight attendants surviving the crash...
And as expected, the cause of the crash of Air Florida Flight 90, was pilot error and the buildup of ice on Air Florida Flight 90s wings prior to its takeoff...
And finally viewers, though I have said this in many of these same chapters before...
I will once again reiterate, that I as well as the rest of my allies in The Four Aces Alliance. Do not mean any sort of disrespect, to those whose lives were lost by either this tragedy, or those like it...
As the only reason why I am mentioning them in these fanfics, is to help preserve the legacy of those who were injured or killed in these tragedies. And nothing more then that...
And also, to make sure that those who lost people in these tragedies, have some sort of another way to remember their loved ones...
And now viewers, this now marks the end of this non action packed filler chapter...But you can look forward to things getting right back into the action in the next chapter...And so viewers, from me, Angel Bluebell, Zachary, Catherine, and everyone else in The Four Aces Alliance...We all look forward to seeing you lot in the next chapter...So viewers, see you all there, okay?...*Keiko proceeds to go and currently say this, and this is also while Keiko is also proceeding to go currently and smile with both of her brown eyes closed. And this is also while Keiko also currently has her head tilted to one side, in her usual and still very much cute looking manner as well*"