Day: April 11, 1973
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Day trip to disaster.. 110 die in snow
From NED GRANT in Axbridge Daily Mirror 11th April 1973 They were the villages of lost mothers last night four little communities in the Somerset countryside, numbed by the horror of a miles away. tragedy 500 miles away More than 100 of their women were aboard a day-trip plane that plunged into a Swiss mountainside in a…
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Crash plane equipped for Arctic conditions
Evening Post Wed April 11th 1973 Invicta International owners of the crashed air- craft, were taken over only two months European ago by Ferries, the powerful company operat- ing the Thoresen Town- send boats. Invicta, based at Manston, Kent were founded nine years ago as a cargo air- line but soon developed a passenger market and…
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‘We were singing moments before.
Evening Post Wed April 11th 1973 One of the survivors was Mr. Fred Tjolle, a former Bristol travel agent licensee, who now has an antique stall in Bristol Market. He is the father of Mr. Valere Tjolle, a partner in Unicorn Travel. From a he hospital in Basle, told today of the appalling conditions in which…
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Boy (12) said flight was jinxed
Evening Post Wed April 11th 1973 A twelve-year-old Abridge boy thought there was a jinx on the trip to Switzerland. And he told his father about it the day before he and his mother climbed aboard the ill fated aircraft. Today retired postman Mr. Albert Wharton relieved that both his wife and son are safe –…
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Gran safe on first flight
Evening Post Wed April 11th 1973 Grandmother Mrs. Agnes White (68), who took her first trip abroad when she flew to Basle, is among the survivors. Her husband George (69) said from their home in Upper New Road, Cheddar: “This was the first time she has been in an aeroplane and the first time she has…
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Vanguards very docile aircraft
Evening Post Wed April 11th 1973 By FRANK KELLY, who has had a lifetime’s experience in civil aviation and is a former deputy publicity manager of the British Aircraft Corporation. All the reports indicate that the appalling weather conditions were the basic cause of this crash and there is no suggestion of any technical fault. Vanguards…
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I was the first out of plane
Evening Post Wed April 11th 1973 A Bath youth told today how he survivor was the first to climb from the smashed Vanguard. Ben Gillow (17) told a Swiss reporter that he was only slightly hurt. “We flew into Basle about 10 a.m. and suddenly then the plane started to climb. It made a sweep over…
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Survivor tells of ordeal
Evening Post Wed April 11th 1973 The first Bristol survivor to return home from the Swiss air disaster told today of the nightmare ordeal. Mr. Barry Jones, of The Paddock House, Ivywell Road, Sneyd Park, was one of the passengers in the tail section of the aircraft and escaped with only scratches. “T am extremely lucky…
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What went wrong?
Evening Post Wed April 11th 1973 One of the Swiss investigating officers, Mr. Rene Hodel, told me insufficient that reports still reports to been compiled to give a real indication. But it appears the Vangard made least one at approach from the north and overshot the runway without landing because of the bad visibility. It then…
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Swiss share heartbreak
From Malcolm Smith Hochwald, Basle, Evening Post Wed April 11th 1973 There is a great sadness here today borne by the people of Switzerland like a heavy black cloak. I say I am from Bristol. “We are so sorry–it is terrible,” comes the reply from policeman, porter and taxi-man. Particularly is the sentiment profound in this…
