Stockport Air Disaster
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Image:C4 Argonaut.jpg The Stockport Air Disaster occurred at around 10am on June 4, 1967.
A British Midland C4 Argonaut (a version of the Douglas DC-4) carrying passengers returning from Palma de Mallorca was on the approach to Ringway Airport when its engines lost power due to pump failure.
Pilot Harry Marlow attempted an emergency landing in nearby Woodbank Park, but unfortunately the plane overshot the park. However, he was able to land so as to avoid casualties on the ground, avoiding a gasometer and a block of flats. The plane crashed into a garage, electricity substation and patch of wasteland in Hopes Carr, in the centre of Stockport.
Amazingly, given the total devastation of the impact area, twelve survivors were pulled from the wreckage before a fuel fire caught hold. The remaining 72 passengers and crew were killed in the ensuing inferno, lying trapped beneath collapsing seats.
In 2002, a memorial plaque was unveiled at the scene of the accident. It bears the legend:
OF THE
SEVENTY TWO PASSENGERS
AND CREW
WHO LOST THEIR LIVES
IN THE
STOCKPORT AIR DISASTER
4TH JUNE 1967
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