Location Transport

De Havilland s pioneering Comet entered airline service in 1952

Summary: De Havilland s pioneering Comet entered airline service in 1952 Initially it was a success but a series of fatal crashes in 1953 and 1954 resulted in the type being grounded until the cause could be discovered Airlines cancelled orders for it public confidence in the idea of jet transport plummeted and it would take de Havilland four years to find and fix the problem The cause of the Comet crashes was nothing to do with jet engines it was a rapid failure brought on by cycling the high stresses in corners of the near square windows from pressurizing the cabin to high altitudes and back A new understanding of metal fatigue that the Comet investigation produced would play a vital part in the good safety record of later types like the DC 8 De Havilland s pioneering Comet entered airline service in 1952 Initially it was a success but a series of fatal crashes in 1953 and 1954 resulted in the type being grounded until the cause could be discovered Airlines cancelled orders for it public confidence in the idea of jet transport plummeted and it would take de Havilland four years to find and fix the problem The cause of the Comet crashes was nothing to do with jet engines it was a rapid failure brought on by cycling the high stresses in corners of the near square windows from pressurizing the cabin to high altitudes and back A new understanding of metal fatigue that the Comet investigation produced would play a vital part in the good safety record of later types like the DC 8

Image Dimensions: 180 x 117