ASN Aircraft accident Avro 691 Lancastrian C.1 G-AGLX Indian Ocean
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Status:
Date:Saturday 23 March 1946
Type:Silhouette image of generic a691 model; specific model in this crash may look slightly different
Avro 691 Lancastrian C.1
Operating for:Qantas
Leased from:British Overseas Airways Corporation - BOAC
Registration: G-AGLX
MSN: 1178
First flight:
Engines: 4 Rolls-Royce Merlin
Crew:Fatalities: 5 / Occupants: 5
Passengers:Fatalities: 5 / Occupants: 5
Total:Fatalities: 10 / Occupants: 10
Aircraft damage: Missing
Aircraft fate: Presumed damaged beyond repair
Location:Indian Ocean (   Indian Ocean)
Phase: En route (ENR)
Nature:International Scheduled Passenger
Departure airport:Negombo RAF Station (CMB/VCBI), Sri Lanka
Destination airport:Cocos Islands Airport (CCK/YPCC), Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Narrative:
The Avro 691 Lancastrian operated on a flight from the United Kingdom to Australia. The initial stages to Karachi were carried out by BOAC. The continuing legs from Karachi to Colombo, Cocos Islands, Perth, Gawler and Sydney were carried out by Qantas.
Lancastrian G-AGLX was a former RAF Lancaster bomber, converted for civilian use.
Reportedly the departure from Colombo's Negombo RAF Station was delayed for two hours because of a fault in the plane's radio equipment. After departing for the flight across the Indian Ocean to the Cocos Islands, the crew radioed position reports. The last position report received was at 18:00 hours Perth time. The scheduled report at 18:30 was never received and the aircraft was reported missing.
The point at which the Lancastrian last reported was within the inter-tropic area where the weather front was probably at its worst over the whole route.
An extensive search failed to find a trace of the aircraft.

Sources:
» The West Australian 26 Mar 1946
» The Civil Aircraft Registers of Great Britain


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Map
This map shows the airport of departure and the intended destination of the flight. The line between the airports does not display the exact flight path.
Distance from Negombo RAF Station to Cocos Islands Airport as the crow flies is 2841 km (1776 miles).
Accident location: Global; accuracy within tens or hundreds of kilometers.

This information is not presented as the Flight Safety Foundation or the Aviation Safety Network’s opinion as to the cause of the accident. It is preliminary and is based on the facts as they are known at this time.
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