Category: Western Daily Press

  • Mums’ day trip which devastated families right across the West.

    Mums’ day trip which devastated families right across the West.

    The West Country Times Tuesday April 5, 2016 It’s over 40 years ago since the air crash that left hundreds of West Country families in mourning for mothers, daughters, grandmothers, aunties and nieces. An English oak tree in a pine forest on a Swiss mountain marks the spot of the tragic plane crash on April…

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  • Pilgrimage to remember luckless 108 victims of the flight to disaster

    Pilgrimage to remember luckless 108 victims of the flight to disaster

    Western Daily Press, Wednesday April 9, 2003 Thirty years ago, an aircraft carrying Somerset mums on a day trip to Switzerland hit a mountain, killing 108 passengers and crew. Today, the Western Daily Press can exclusively reveal the crash was a needless waste of life and should never have happened.  ROGER TAVENER reports  In a…

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  • Travel firm’s leader is in hospital 

    Travel firm’s leader is in hospital 

    Western Daily Press April 11th 1973 By Garth Pearce  THE FATAL flight was organised by Unicorn Travel, of Park Street, Bristol It was just another of the routine day return i excursions from Bristol to Switzerland. which it has been running since August. The cost was £16.50. And the advertising leaflet for the trip said “Let…

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  • Victims’ MP calls for full report

    Victims’ MP calls for full report

    Western Daily Press April 11th 1973 By Preston Witts  AEROSPACE Minister Mr. Michael Heseltine will be questioned about the air disaster in the Commons today, Mr. Jerry Wiggin. Tory MP for Weston-super-Mare, the constituency of most of the crash victims. had put down a private notice question. He will ask Mr. Heseltine for a full statement…

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  • LAUGHS ON THE COACH 

    LAUGHS ON THE COACH 

    Western Daily Press April 11th 1973 COACH owner Mr. Oliver Lyons, of Blagdon, took 90 of the passengers to Bristol’s Lulsgate airport. He was to have returned for them at 11.30 p.m. last night. “It is heartbreaking,’ he said at Blagdon parish council meeting last night. “so as I drove happy around Axbridge, Cheddar, Wrington. and…

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  • Offers of aid flood town

    Offers of aid flood town

     Western Daily Press April 11th 1973 THE GOOD Samaritans of the West poured offers of help into the stunned town last night. “In fact, we have more help than we can possibly. use at the moment, Cheddar Vale Lions Club said president Mr. Leavey. Norman He said local organisations are combining services to find out what…

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  • These 68 booked a trip to disaster.

    These 68 booked a trip to disaster.

    Western Daily Press April 11th 1973 THE 68 passengers booked through Mendip Travel of Yatton were:  FIVE members of Cheddar Mothers’ Group: J. Baker, Mrs. Mrs. Edwards. Mrs. G. Heritage, Mrs. A. Latham, Mrs. H. Lane.  SIXTY-THREE members of Abridge Townswomen’s Guild and relatives: Mrs. B. Hopkins, Mrs, V. Avery, Mrs. Gould, Mr. R. Keen, Mr.…

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  • The Queen distressed 

    The Queen distressed 

    Western Daily Press April 11th 1973 The Queen sent this message from Windsor Castle to Mr. Heseltine: “I was very distressed to hear of the crash of the Vanguard of Invicta International Airways in Switzerland today, with such a heavy loss of life. “Prince Philip and I send our deepest sympathy to the relatives of those…

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  • The plane 

    The plane 

    Western Daily Press April 11th 1973 THE VANGUARD, powered by four Rolls- Royce Tyne turbo-prop engines and seating from 130 to 140 passengers, was built by the British Aircraft Corporation. The Vanguard which crashed yesterday was originally delivered to Air Canada in July 1962. It was sold to Air Holdings in 1968 and acquired by Invicta…

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  • The waiting and the praying in Axbridge 

    The waiting and the praying in Axbridge 

    Western Daily Press April 11th 1973 By Mary Wright, Martin Turner and Wilf Giles  THE GRIEF-STRICKEN town of Abridge was dazed by the tragedy. In the pubs radios were turned up to full volume to tell them the grim news of the mounting death toll. In the narrow streets townsfolk stood talking in muted tones, wondering…

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