Why The World's First Jet Airliner Was A Failure (However Nonetheless Revolutionary)

In 1946, three years after initially arising with the concept, De Havilland started design work on the Comet. This design section lasted three years, and the primary Comet took flight on July 27, 1949. It underwent three extra years of testing and tweaking earlier than lastly coming into service on Might 2, 1952, with the British Abroad Plane Company (BOAC).

The 44-seat (36 of which have been for passengers) airplane was to journey from London to Johannesburg at 480 miles per hour. Sadly, a mere 18 months after that inaugural flight in Might of ’52, two crashes occurred inside three months of one another in 1953 and 1954. 

The primary crash passed off whereas delivering a airplane to Canadian Pacific Air Traces, and as one would possibly count on, the corporate cancelled the order. The second crash occurred when a BOAC Comet left Kolkata, India, and hit a storm.  All 43 individuals aboard perished. Comply with-up investigations and exams confirmed that after repeated pressurization and depressurization the steel fatigued, and brought on cracks within the fuselage.

These setbacks did not deter De Havilland, as he launched a brand new and improved model of the Comet 4 years later. Nonetheless by then, each Boeing and Douglas had produced jet airliners (Boeing’s 707 and Douglas’ DC-8) and had since taken over the aviation business.