Bombay, India: For the second time in a little over a year, United Arab Airlines Flight 869, fell from the sky taking all sixty-three souls with it. The De Havilland Comet, registration SU-ALD, plummeted into the ocean off of the Indian coast.
The plane originated in Tokyo and had already had one stopover in Hong Kong and Bangkok. From Bombay, the plane was to continue on to Bahrain before ending in Cairo. Upon attempting a landing at the Bombay Airport, the pilots reported in at FL (flight level) 70 and requested descent to FL 40, which was granted by air traffic control. Control warned the pilots of severe turbulence around six or seven miles west of the airport, which the plane was already nearing on its VOR approach to the airport.
The flight began to take evasive maneuvers and reported heavy turbulence and violent storms in their midst. Controllers advised caution and offered a go-around route circumventing the storm. Pilots had just began to execute the maneuver when all contact was lost without warning. Controllers reported that there had been no distress call or reports of any problems from the crew.
As the plane had crashed in deep water off the coast of India and there was little to no wreckage for investigators to examine, the cause of the crash was attributed to loss of control of the craft due to severe turbulence and violent storm activity.
Perhaps saddest of all, was that among the fifty-five passengers, were twenty-six Boy Scouts from the Philippines, on their way to a convention in Greece. The loss of the boys caused a great mourning in their town and country. A memorial was constructed in Quezon City, Philippines to mark the passing of the boys and several streets on the city’s south side were named in their honor as well.