LV-AHO de Havilland D.H.106 Comet 4                    (c/n  6410)

                                    

                                        Aerolineas Argentinas took delivery of its first Comet 4 on 2 March 1959.  It was the first airline
                                        to introduce commercial jet air service in South America and inaugurated its Comet route from
                                        Buenos Aires to Santiago on 16 April 1959.   Shortly afterward the Comets were operated on
                                        the European routes from B.A. to Rome, Frankfort, Paris and London.    J.M.G. Gradidge took
                                        the above shot at London Airport in 1959.   Of the six Comet 4s operated by Argentinas, three
                                        were lost in crashes.  The other three were flown for over a decade, however, and were eventually
                                        sold to Dan Air of London where they continued to provide excellent service, being finally scrapped
                                        in the mid 1970s.      LV-AHO was written off on 20 Feb 1960 in a training accident at Buenos
                                        Aires'.Ezeiza-Ministro Pistarin Airport  The aircraft landed heavily whereupon the main gear was
                                        forced up through the wings. The Comet bounced and touched down several hundred yards further
                                        on.  The resultant fire destroyed the machine, although the crew of six managed to escape.  Expensive
                                        training session.