1968 Heathrow BKS Air Transport Airspeed Ambassador crash

On 3 July 1968 Airspeed Ambassador registration G-AMAD of BKS Air Transport crashed at London Heathrow Airport, damaging two parked Trident airliners as it cartwheeled into the incomplete London Heathrow Terminal 1, then under construction. Six of the eight people on board the Ambassador were killed, along with the eight racehorses being transported on it. The crash was blamed on the failure of a flap-operating rod due to metal fatigue, resulting in asymmetrical lift.

The Ambassador, construction number 5211, had previously been British European Airways' Sir Francis Drake. It had recently been converted to a "horsebox" transport and was on a flight from Deauville, France, to Heathrow Airport. It was transporting eight racehorses belonging to businessman William Hill together with five grooms. As the aircraft was landing on Heathrow's runway 28R the left wing dropped, and the wing tip and left landing gear touched the grass adjacent to the runway. The crew tried to increase power to go-around and climb away, but the bank angle increased. The aircraft hit two parked empty British European Airways Hawker Siddeley Tridents, knocking the tail fin off one and slicing off the entire tail section of the other . The Ambassador cartwheeled following the impact and slid upside down coming up against the ground floor of the terminal building where there was an explosion.

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