Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701

Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 was the flight involved in a fatal air accident on 5 January 1969, when a Boeing 727 with 62 people on board crashed into a house on its approach to London Gatwick Airport in heavy fog. Due to pilot error the flaps were not extended to maintain flight at final approach speed.

At 0135 on a Sunday morning on which the Gatwick area was affected by patches of dense freezing fog, Boeing 727 registration number YA-FAR descended below its correct glide slope as it approached the airport from the east. As it passed over the hamlet of Fernhill on the Surrey/Sussex border, it hit trees and roofs, began to roll and crashed into a field south of Fernhill Lane, 1 1⁄2 miles short of the runway. It collided with a large detached house, demolished it and caught fire.

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