British European Airways Flight 706

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British European Airways Flight 706 was a scheduled London to Salzburg service that crashed on 2 October 1971. While cruising at about 19,000 feet, the rear pressure bulkhead of the Vickers Vanguard failed due to undetected corrosion. The resulting explosive decompression caused the tailplanes to separate, the aircraft went into an uncontrollable dive, and it crashed near Aarsele, Belgium, killing all 63 people on board. One person on the ground was injured by debris.

Investigators found that the rear bulkhead had corroded at its lower part, worsened by many pressurization cycles. BEA’s inspection method could not reliably spot the crack, and routine inspections were too infrequent. The loss of the bulkhead led to a rapid breakup of the tail and loss of control. It was noted that eight other Vanguard aircraft had similar corrosion issues.

BEA introduced new methods to detect corrosion and improved access for ground inspections. The aircraft involved was Vanguard G-APEC, built in 1959 and delivered to BEA in 1961. The flight departed Heathrow at 09:34, was routed via various points, and reported at Brussels ATC around 10:01; the last transmission came at 10:10:30 with the crew saying they were going down and had no rudder control. The crew included Captain E. T. Probert and Co-pilot J. M. Davies, with a third pilot on board.