| British Airtours Flight 28M was an international passenger flight on 22 August 1985 which originated from Manchester International Airport's Runway 24 in Manchester, England en-route to Corfu International Airport on the Greek island of Corfu. The aircraft, previously named "Goldfinch" but at the time of the accident named "River Orrin", had 131 passengers and six crew on the manifest. At the peak of the holiday season, most of the passengers were holidaymakers. At 06:12 BST, during the takeoff phase, Captain Peter Terrington and First Officer Brian Love heard a loud thump coming from underneath the plane. Thinking a tyre had burst, they abandoned takeoff and activated the thrust reversers. Taking care in applying gradual braking, the crew steered the plane onto a taxiway off to the right of the runway and into a slight prevailing wind. As the plane stopped, the crew discovered that the No. 1 engine was on fire. By this time, fuel spilling from the port wing combined with the light wind had fanned the fire into a giant blaze. Fire quickly found its way into the passenger cabin, creating toxic smoke and causing the deaths of 53 passengers and two cabin crew, 48 of them from smoke inhalation. 78 passengers and four crew escaped, with 15 people sustaining serious injuries. One passenger, a man rescued 33 minutes after the outbreak of fire after being found unconscious in the aisle, died in the hospital 6 days later as a result of his injuries. |
