Talk:BOAC Flight 781

Accident report
I found a geocities archive at http://replay.web.archive.org/20090730175126/http://geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Lab/8803/fcogalyp.htm

But I need a link hosted by the AAIB or another British agency WhisperToMe (talk) 06:08, 5 May 2011 (UTC)
 * The US NTSB posted the text on its own site. It seems to be the real McCoy WhisperToMe (talk) 09:04, 5 May 2011 (UTC)

Lord Louis Mountbatten
Years ago, I recorded an episode of the History Channel program Incredible, But True? concerning the loss of BOAC Flight 781. In this episode, the narrator mentioned that Lord Louis Mountbatten, commander-in-chief of the Royal Navy's Mediterranean Fleet, was ordered by the Admiralty to look for the plane. I was interested in this because I recall Mountbatten being assassinated by the Provisional IRA. Does anyone else know anything about this? Or is my information wrong? And003 (talk) 23:05, 7 June 2011 (UTC)

First passenger jet crash
Was this the first passenger jet-engined crash? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 217.155.193.120 (talk) 17:11, 20 May 2012 (UTC)


 * The first fatal accident was on 3 March 1953 when a Canadian Pacific Airlines Comet 1 crashed in Pakistan, they had been an earlier non-fatal accident as well. MilborneOne (talk) 18:57, 20 May 2012 (UTC)

Search, Recovery and Investigation
Three are abroad on the outward end of their runs—at Singapore, Johannesburg, South Africa and Tokyo. That's four. This appears to be in need of clarification. Dick Kimball (talk) 18:17, 24 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Johannesburg, South Africa is only one not two different. MilborneOne (talk) 20:09, 24 October 2012 (UTC)
 * Johannesburg, South Africa is only one not two different. MilborneOne (talk) 20:09, 24 October 2012 (UTC)


 * This might be easier to read if a semicolon, rather than a comma, were used to separate individual listings. Dick Kimball (talk) 18:51, 10 January 2014 (UTC)

...preparing to do their catch. Am I the only one who doesn't understand this phrase? Dick Kimball (talk) 18:51, 10 January 2014 (UTC)


 * No, I have tried to tweak the sentence, although most of that section doesnt actually flow or make sense in English! If nobody else does it first I will have a try an re-write into something that flows and make sense. MilborneOne (talk) 19:23, 10 January 2014 (UTC)

Computer model
''A Seconds From Disaster documentary episode described this task as "grueling". If the hypothesis had been tested in the 2000s, investigators would have used computer technology to determine the effect of pressurization''

You have to have the necessary data to create a computer model, and the point is that at the time this information was unavailable, as no one had considered a pressure cabin problem to exist. Otherwise de Havilland would have designed the Comet differently. You cannot solve a problem beforehand (in the design stage) unless you know what the problem is. It is even harder to solve a problem that you are unaware of because no one has ever encountered it before. THAT is one of the risks of being the first to do something new. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 80.7.147.13 (talk) 11:47, 25 May 2013 (UTC)

External links modified
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 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20140407092256/http://objectwiki.sciencemuseum.org.uk/wiki/Fuselage_of_de_Havilland_Comet_Airliner_G_ALYP to http://objectwiki.sciencemuseum.org.uk/wiki/Fuselage_of_de_Havilland_Comet_Airliner_G_ALYP

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In culture / dramatization section
I added a section to add material references to this incident in culture, and a cited description of a TV episode that devotes significant time to discussing this incident. That was deleted. The same user has been deleting already existing references to TV episodes or cultural references to other pages. I already started a talk page discussion for this on Talk:British Airways Flight 38. Please discuss there. Thanks. Shelbystripes (talk) 17:45, 12 September 2017 (UTC)

Square windows misconception.
A lot of people think this crash was caused notably by square windows. Here is an article explaining why this was not the case. https://admiralcloudberg.medium.com/neither-money-nor-manpower-the-story-of-the-de-havilland-comet-and-the-crash-of-boac-flight-781-36db2a3435ce Maxime12346 (talk) 14:58, 24 June 2023 (UTC)