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20 DC-6 G-ARWJ , wearing full Cunard Eagle livery , was photographed at London ( Heathrow ) in 1962 . // PAUL ZOGG COLLECTION ( ZOGGAVIA ) |
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technical problems arose at remote locations on these long-haul charters , crews were often called upon to respond in ingenious ways . On one occasion , a Britannia was stranded in Kuwait awaiting a replacement part ; however , when the part arrived , it was immediately bonded by Kuwaiti Customs , forcing the crew to assume the initiative . Stealthily approaching the customs warehouse in darkness , and having plied the guard with a copious quantity of whiskey and locating the part , they replaced the contents of the crate with empty soda siphons and made off with their prize . When the plane was ready to depart after a couple of days , two of the passengers could not be roused from their hotel beds and , in a final twist to the tale , the Kuwait Fire Service were called to break the door down .
Faced with long , tiring days , layovers provided the ideal
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opportunity for off-duty crews to relax and let their hair down , but the off-duty antics sometimes went too far — after several incidents , Eagle personnel were banned from one of Singapore ’ s top hotels .
As well as regular commitments , the ‘ Whispering Giant ’ Britannias also proved popular for holiday flights and , during the summer of 1964 , Eagle flew to a dozen leisure destinations from Heathrow alone . Tragically , one of Eagle ’ s new Britannias was lost after only six weeks in service . Approaching Innsbruck ’ s mountain-locked Kranebitten Airport ( INN ) on a scheduled flight , the captain elected to cancel his instrument flight plan and continue visually , but soon encountered clouds at around 11,000ft . During several circuits of the nearby VOR , the aircraft descended below minimum safe altitude and crashed into nearby Mount Glungezer , 10
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miles southeast of the airport , at 8,535ft ( 2,600m ), causing an avalanche which engulfed the aircraft and took the lives of all 83 occupants .
The US Civil Aeronautics Board ( CAB ) granted a threeyear transatlantic charter license in 1964 , but Eagle didn ’ t fully exercise these rights due to its military commitments . Later in the year , a new opportunity came Eagle ’ s way through an arrangement with QANTAS ( QF ) to operate migrant flights to Australia under a £ 10 ( US $ 28 ) assisted passage scheme . The first Britannia departed London ( Heathrow ) on October 9 , carrying 132 migrants to a new life ‘ Down Under ’. By January 1965 , some 48 flights had been completed .
Eagle had always operated a small-scale domestic freight market but , by late 1965 , loads on the London-Liverpool sector had grown sufficiently to warrant
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21 Viscount G-ARKH sports Cunard Eagle markings at Heathrow in 1961 . // PAUL ZOGG COLLECTION ( ZOGGAVIA ) |