The crash of Dan-Air Flight 1903 killed all 112 aboard, making it the deadliest aviation accident of 1970 and the deadliest involving a De Havilland Comet.
Key Facts
- Date of crash
- 3 July 1970
- Aircraft type
- De Havilland Comet 4
- Total fatalities
- 112 people
- Route
- Manchester to Barcelona
- Operator
- Dan Air Services Limited
- Charter client
- Clarksons Holidays
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
Dan Air Services Limited was operating a charter flight on behalf of British tour operator Clarksons Holidays, carrying holidaymakers on an all-inclusive package from Manchester to Barcelona. The de Havilland Comet 4 aircraft was on approach or en route when it encountered conditions leading to loss of control or navigational error over mountainous terrain in Catalonia.
On 3 July 1970, the Comet 4 aircraft struck the wooded slopes of the Serralada del Montseny near Arbúcies in the Province of Girona, Spain. The impact destroyed the aircraft and killed all 112 people on board, including passengers and crew, with no survivors.
The crash was Dan-Air's first fatal accident involving fare-paying passengers, occurring in the airline's eighteenth year of operation. It remains the deadliest accident ever involving a De Havilland Comet. The disaster occurred just two days after Dan-Air had secured a four-year, £2.5-million charter contract with Global Holidays, casting a shadow over the company's commercial expansion.