JET DISASTERS ARE A TRAGIC REMINDER OF AN EARLIER AGE

NOT SINCE the tragic launch of the British Comet 4C four-jet airliner nearly 70 years ago has there been a more disastrous launch of a new passenger plane than that of the recent Boeing 737 Max. Two rapid crashes cost 346 passengers their lives and the Max has been withdrawn, probably never to fly again. The cost to Boeing – $10billion so far. Passenger compensation is still to come.

Back then Britain launched the De Havilland pure-jet Comet, the first in the world and years ahead of the propeller-driven competition.

But, alas, the Comet was flying at unprecedented altitude, up in the stratosphere, about which little was known. And it ran into a phenomenon no one suspected – clear-air turbulence.

Today we are accustomed to the occasional shuddering at 35,000 feet but modern airliners just fly through it.

In 1954 the shaking weakened the square portholes, causing window blow-out and explosive decompression. The wreckage was carefully gathered and examined for years. Finally the cause was targeted.

As with the British invention of the jet engine which we donated free to the world (imagine the royalties if we had demanded fees for every jet engine ever produced), we published the findings of all that research. This enabled Boeing to avoid those years and costs and leap ahead with its world-sweeping Boeing 707.

But the disaster of the 737 Max is not down to some unheard-of new phenomenon, just shoddy research and workmanship.

Even at the simulator stage of testing, seasoned pilots and technicians had their first doubts. If these were covered up, there will be massive litigation.

Meanwhile, Boeing would be wise to stick to its other new airliner – the 787 Dreamliner which is a lovely ride – and reliable.