British European Airways Flight 142

Flight 142 was piloted by Captain Frank Foster and took off from Heathrow Airport on 22 October 1958 and was headed to Naples. At 12:55 local time the captain reported is position to the Rome Air traffic controller, being above Ostia at an altitude of 23,500 feet (7,500 m). A male passenger was found alive by rescuers, but he died while being taken to hospital. Eight bodies were so heavily disfigured that they could not be recognized. On the plane there were secret Admiralty documents that were to be delivered to the island of Malta. The documents were recovered and sent back to England. At the same time, after the collision, the military aircraft became uncontrollable due to the loss of a wing, forcing the pilot to eject, with the latter reaching the ground few meters from the wreckage. The pilot, who was seriously injured, was rescued by two farmers and taken to a hospital in Nettuno, where he remained under guard waiting to be able to testify about the incident. ==Investigation==

Immediately after the accident, a nine-member commission was formed and chaired by an Italian Air squadron general. At the end of the investigation, the final report attributed the collision to a tragic fatality, since none of the crews could have noticed the potential collision, a fact attributable to the flight profile of the F86s and the military nature of the exercise that was taking place. It was also noted that the Viscount had strayed out of its airway and into a military-prohibited area. The management of British European Airways (BEA), supported by the local press, heavily contested this reconstruction of the facts. == References ==