South African Airways Flight 201

South African Airways Flight 201, a de Havilland Comet 1, took off at 18:32 UTC from Ciampino Airport in Rome, Italy en route to Cairo, Egypt, on the second stage of its flight from London to Johannesburg, South Africa. The flight crashed, killing all aboard at around 19:07 UTC on 8 April 1954. The flight was operated as a charter by British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) using the aircraft G-ALYY ("Yoke Yoke") ("Yoke Yoke"), with a South African crew of seven, and carrying 14 passengers.

Flight and disaster
Gerry Bull and other BOAC engineers examined the aircraft for Flight 201. Previously the same team examined BOAC Flight 781 prior to its final flight.

Flying as SA201, Yoke Yoke took off from London for Rome at 13:00 UTC on Thursday 7 April 1954, on the first leg southwards to Johannesburg, arriving at Rome approximately two and a half hours later, at 17:35 UTC. On arrival at Rome engineers discovered some minor faults, including a faulty fuel gauge, which delayed the aircraft's departure by some 25 hours before Yoke Yoke was ready to depart for Cairo on the evening of Thursday 8 April.

The aircraft took off for Cairo at 18:32 UTC under the command of Captain William Mostert, and climbed rapidly towards its cruising height of 35,000 feet (11,000 m). The crew reported over the Ostia Beacon at 18:37 UTC, passing though the altitude of 7,000 feet (2,100 m). The weather was good, but with an overcast sky.

Another report was made by the aircraft, first at 18:49 UTC at Ponza, where it reported climbing through 11,600 feet (3,500 m) and another at 18:57 UTC when it reported passing abeam of Naples. At 19:07 UTC, while still climbing, the aircraft contacted Cairo on the long range HF radio and reported an ETA of 21:02 UTC.

This was the last message heard from Yoke Yoke, as sometime after, aircraft disintegrated in the night sky at around 35,000 feet (11,000 m), killing everyone onboard.

After repeated attempts at re-gaining contact by both Cairo and Rome were made, it was realised that another Comet had been lost. Initial news of the accident was leaked to the press by a German radio station which had been monitoring the radio transmissions.

Three days after the incident, The New York Times carried a piece covering the event. Britain today weighed the cost of a stunning blow to her proudest pioneer industry - jet civil aviation - as the crash of another Comet airliner was confirmed. Twenty-one persons, including three Americans, were believed to have died when the plane was lost in the Mediterranean. The discovery of at least six bodies and bits of wreckage floating in the sea about 70 miles (110 km) south of Naples put a pall on the last hopes for the British Overseas Airways Corporation craft, missing since 6:57 o'clock last night.

Tonight the Minister of Transport, A. T. Lennox-Boyd withdrew from all Comets the certificate of airworthiness that the aircraft won on Jan. 20, 1952, 'pending further detailed investigations into the causes of the recent disasters.'

This second, unexplained Comet crash in three months came less than three weeks after the sleek four-jet de Haviland airliner had been restored to commercial service with about 60 safety modifications. They had been grounded for 10 weeks since the previous Comet crash Jan. 10 into the Mediterranean near the island of Elba with 35 dead.

Early today they were grounded again. Sir Miles Thomas, chairman of the airline, said the new crash was 'a very great tragedy and a major setback for British civil aviation.'

Bull said that he felt difficulty accepting the fact that the same circumstances that occurred with the BOAC flight occurred with the South African Airways flight.

Search, recovery and investigation
As soon as it heard of the crash BOAC once again voluntarily grounded all its Comets as it had done three months earlier after the BOAC Flight 781 disaster. The Italian air-sea rescue services were notified, and searching began at dawn the next day, subsequently involving the Royal Navy carrier HMS Eagle and the destroyer HMS Daring. Some time later in the day a report was received from a BEA Ambassador aircraft of a patch of oil some 70 miles (110 km) east of Naples and bodies and wreckage in the water 30 miles (48 km) south-east of Stromboli. The depth of the Mediterranean Sea at the crash site meant that a salvage mission was ruled out as impractical.

Metal fatigue
At the time of the accident, the investigation into the crash of BOAC Flight 781 was still in progress, but suspicion of the cause of the loss of Yoke Peter had fallen on the possibility of an engine turbine failure. During the previous grounding of all Comets, modifications had since been made to the Comets, including Yoke Yoke, that seemed to eliminate this possibility. The investigation of BOAC 781 revealed manufacturer design defects and metal fatigue]] that resulted ultimately in the explosive decompression that caused both accidents.