Fifty years ago, a British Midland flight returning from Majorca crashed in Stockport, Greater Manchester, killing 72 people. The Canadair C-4 Argonaut propeller aircraft, carrying 84 passengers and crew, lost power on the morning of 4 June 1967 and plummeted into a small patch of ground at Hopes Carr, striking a garage and bursting into flames.
Eyewitnesses described seeing the plane flying so low that they could see passengers banging on windows. Retired firefighter Mike Phillips, then 21, recalled a scene of 'sheer horror' with bodies and body parts scattered, and members of the public screaming for help. Remarkably, no one on the ground was hurt, as the aircraft narrowly avoided rows of houses.
The accident investigation blamed 'fuel starvation' due to a fault in the fuel lines and a poor warning system. Captain Harry Marlow, a former RAF display pilot, was not held responsible; he suffered amnesia and never flew again, dying in 2009. Survivor John Wood, then 19, remembered waking up in the burning aircraft and escaping through a hole in the side. His brother Bill also survived, but their father did not.
Vivienne Thornber, another survivor, recalled the plane descending 'as low as the bedroom windows' with no warning to passengers. She woke after impact to find flames and escaped with a friend. Police inspector Charles Hunt, now 95, was tasked with managing a makeshift mortuary, where only two victims—a young girl and the co-pilot—were identifiable; the rest were burned beyond recognition.
A service will be held on Sunday at the crash site, where two memorials honour the victims and rescuers. A documentary, Six Miles from Home, marking the 50th anniversary, will be shown at Stockport Plaza on 10 June.
