80 Dead at Llandow: Aviation Safety Demands Change
A charter aircraft carrying 80 passengers, most of them Welsh rugby supporters returning from an international match in Paris, crashed during its approach to Llandow airfield near Cowbridge, Glamorgan, on March 12, 1950. The Avro Tudor V stalled at low altitude and slammed into a field, killing 80 of 83 people aboard. It was the deadliest aviation disaster in the world at that time. The victims came from the tight-knit mining and rugby communities of the South Wales valleys, and the loss devastated entire towns. The Board of Trade investigation found that the aircraft had been overloaded and that the crew had allowed airspeed to drop below safe limits during the approach. The Tudor V, a derivative of the wartime Lancaster bomber, had a troubled safety record and was withdrawn from passenger service shortly after the crash. A memorial at Sigingstone commemorates the victims, and the disaster remains one of the darkest days in Welsh sporting history.
March 12, 1950
76 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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