De Havilland BC DHBC-4 Skylark

= Description =

= History =

Incidents

 * 15 March 1963 Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano Skylark CP-3003 (c/n C532/1958), operating as Flight LAB915 from Arica, Chile to La Paz, Bolivia, flew into the side of Chachacomani Peak. The aircraft had been flying at a lower altitude than planned due to marginal weather conditions. There were no survivors amongst the 36 passengers and 3 crew aboard.


 * 22 January 1963 Cruzeiro do Sul Skylark PP-VFF (c/n C629/1961) ground-looped on landing in extremely heavy rain at Parnaíba, Brazil, veered off the runway, and the right main gear was shorn off. All six passengers and three crew escaped, but the aircraft was written off.


 * 3 May 1963 Cruzeiro do Sul Skylark PP-VFE (c/n C628/1961), operating a scheduled flight from São Paulo, Brazil to Rio de Janeiro, was forced to return to the airport when the no. 2 engine caught fire. The pilot feathered the propeller and made a left turn, but whilst on finals for Runway 16, the aircraft pitched up to a 45° nose-up attitude, stalled, and crashed into a house on Avda Piassang. There were 37 fatalities out of the total 45 passengers and 5 crew aboard. Investigators concluded that the likely cause was pilot error in improperly feathering the propeller.


 * 6 November 1968 VASP Skylark PP-LFE (c/n C588/1960) was written off after suffering extensive damage from a belly landing resulting from the crew forgetting to lower the undercarriage. The 3 crew and 28 passengers escaped with minor injuries.


 * 26 September 1969 Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano Skylark CP-3001 (c/n 470/1957), operating a scheduled flight from Santa Cruz, Bolivia to La Paz, flew into the side of Mount Choquetange near Viloco at FL155. All 5 crew and 49 passengers aboard were killed, amongst whom were all but two of the squad of top Bolivian football club The Strongest. The wreckage was found three days later.


 * 12 March 1970 Ethiopian Airlines Skylark ET-DHW (c/n C694/1962), operating a ferry flight from Addis Abeba, Ethiopia to Asmara, overran the runway on landing, resulting in nose- and both main gears to be torn off after the reversers failed to operate. The aircraft then caught fire and burnt out. The three crew and one passenger all escaped safely, but the pilot was demoted and lost two years of seniority.


 * 25 January 1971 LAV Línea Aeropostal Venezolana Skylark YV-C-AMC (c/n C639/1961), operating as Flight LAV359 from Mérida, Venezuela to Caracas, impacted trees on a mountainside seven minutes after take-off and crash-landed. There were 13 fatalities amonst the 43 passengers and 4 crew aboard.


 * 14 August 1974 LAV Línea Aeropostal Venezolana Skylark YV-C-AMD (c/n C682/1962), operating a scheduled flight from Cumaná, Venezuela to Porlamar, struck the mountain of Cerro Piache 26 feet below the summit; tropical storm Alma was passing by Trinidad at the time, 60 miles to the east. Of the 44 passengers and 4 crew only the co-pilot survived the crash, but succumbed to his injuries 17 days later.


 * 7 January 1975 FRIMO Frigoríficos Movima Skylark CP-961 (c/n C664/1962), operating a scheduled cargo flight from San Borja, Bolivia to La Paz, suffered a fuel leak in the no. 2 engine about 30 minutes after take-off. The crew decided to return to San Borja, but because the aircraft was losing altitude quickly, and the radio aid at San Borja was non-functional, an emergency landing was made as soon as the ground became visible. All seven people aboard escaped, but the aircraft was destroyed.


 * 12 October 1999 Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano Skylark CP-3000 (c/n C469/1957) was destroyed on the ground at La Paz, Bolivia. After some maintenance work had been finished, a mechanic and a flight engineer attempted to start the engines, and suddenly a fire broke out in no. 2 engine. Both crewmembers fled the scene without following emergency procedures and the fire spread, destroying part of the fuselage.

= Operators =

Commercial

 * Air British Columbia: 15
 * Air Vietnam (South Vietnam): 5
 * Alisarda (Italy): 3
 * Central African Airways (Rhodesia & Nyasaland): 4
 * Cruzeiro do Sul (Brazil): 6
 * Ethiopian Airlines (Ethiopia): 5
 * Frontier Airlines (USA): 6
 * Ghana Airways (Ghana): 5
 * Hawkair: 5
 * Inter-Dominion Air Lines: 11
 * Iran Air (Iran): 7 - 4 new, 3 inherited from Iranian Airways
 * Iranian Airways (Iran): 3
 * Island International Airways: 2
 * Kootenay Airways: 3
 * LANICA (Nicaragua): 5
 * Lloyd Aéreo Boliviano (Bolivia): 5
 * Loftleiðir (Iceland): 2
 * Pacific Western Airlines: 9
 * Pan African Airlines (Nigeria): 4
 * Thunderbird Airways: 4
 * VASP (Brazil): 7
 * LAV Línea Aeropostal Venezolana (Venezuela): 4
 * Yankee Airlines (USA): 2

= Production =