BOAC Flight 712

BOAC Flight 712

The burning 707–465, showing the tail section's skin melted by the fire to expose the interior of the tail.
Accident summary
Date	8 April 1968
Summary	Fire in number 2 port engine
Site	Hounslow, United Kingdom
Passengers	116
Crew	11
Fatalities	5
Injuries (non-fatal)	38
Survivors	122
Aircraft type	Boeing 707-465
Aircraft name	Whisky Echo
Operator	BOAC
Registration	G-ARWE
Flight origin	London Heathrow Airport Middlesex, United Kingdom
1st stopover	Zürich Airport Zürich, Switzerland
2nd stopover	Singapore International Airport, Singapore
Destination	Sydney Airport Sydney

BOAC Flight 712 (callsign Speedbird 712) was a British Overseas Airways Corporation service operated by a Boeing 707-465 from London Heathrow Airport bound for Sydney via Zurich and Singapore. On Monday 8 April 1968, it suffered an engine failure on takeoff that quickly led to a major fire. The engine fell off the aircraft in flight. After the aircraft had made a successful emergency landing, confusion over checklists and distractions from the presence of a check captain contributed to the deaths of five of the 127 on board.

The actions taken by those involved in the accident resulted in the award of the George Cross posthumously to stewardess Barbara Jane Harrison. Two other crew members received awards; a BEM and an MBE. As a result of the accident, BOAC changed the checklists for engine severe failures and engine fires, combining them both into one checklist, the "engine fire or severe failure" checklist.

Flight 712 took off from Heathrow at 15:27 GMT (16:27 BST), 12 minutes later than scheduled. It had 127 people aboard, including a crew augmented by the addition of an acting flight officer, John Hutchinson, and a check captain for routine performance review of the pilot in command, Captain Cliff Taylor. As well as the passengers, the aircraft was carrying baggage, mail and a radioactive isotope from the Isotope Production Unit at Harwell destined for the University Hospital in Jerusalem.