OD-ACF  Vickers 732 Viscount                           (c/n  74)

                             

                                     OD-ACF was one of three Viscounts leased from Hunting Clan Air Transport until their own
                                     series 754s could be delivered.  (They also had another from BEA).  OD-ACF was the first
                                     of Hunting Clans and is seen here at Beirut Airport at the end of 1955.  It was formerly G-ANRR
                                     and was returned as such to the lessor in September of 1957.    Just over a year after its return,
                                     on 2 December 1958 it departed London Heathrow for a test flight following a major overhaul
                                   . While flying at 1000 feet, some 10 minutes after takeoff, the right wing broke off and the aircraft
                                     crashed and caught fire. Investigation revealed that  the elevator spring tab was operating in the
                                     reversed direction.   The resultant maneuvers exercised by the pilot overstressed the aircraft and
                                     caused the wing to break off.   Poor maintenance procedures were cited as the cause.