Manchester's Forgotten Air Disaster 1970

Dan-Air Flight 1903 was an unscheduled international passenger service from Manchester to Barcelona, operated by Dan Air Services Limited under contract with British tour operator Clarksons Holidays, which arranged for the flight to carry a group of holidaymakers who had booked an all-inclusive package holiday with the operator.
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On 3 July 1970, the de Havilland Comet 4 aircraft serving the flight crashed into the wooded slopes of the Serralada del Montseny near Arbúcies, in the Province of Girona of Catalonia, Spain. The crash resulted in the aircraft's destruction and the deaths of all 112 on board. It was the deadliest aviation accident in 1970, and remains the deadliest aviation accident involving the De Havilland Comet.
The crash was Dan-Air's first fatal accident killing fare-paying passengers. News of the first major accident, in the company's eighteenth year of existence, came just two days after British tour operator Global Holidays had awarded it a four-year, £2.5-million contract for all Global charter flights from Birmingham, starting in April 1971.
The loss of life was immeasurable, with many victims being families and young people, some under the age of six.
Source : Wikipedia
We also wish to thank Marti Roig from Televisio de Catalunya International Relations & Sales, for allowing myself and Vickie to watch the full documentary which is, as we are led to believe, is still not available to the public. Without his help, parts of our video would not have been included.
Footage of Dan-Air taken from Are You Being Served? (1977) - www.reelstreets.com/films/are...
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[@DaysofHorror]

➝ Please remember to SUBSCRIBE to our channel so you never miss a new upload! www.youtube.com/@DaysofHorror?sub_confirmation=1 I know, and we get it - this is a shameless plug, but if you don't ask, you don't get 🙂 By subscribing, it helps the channel grow and pushes the videos further out there, so any help is always much appreciated by myself and Vickie!

[@rockpot58]

I am Douglas Gill you mentioned, whose brother George died alongside his girlfriend Norma in the plane crash. I have seen the recent Spanish documentary on the the accident and it was a very moving and comprehensive account of what happened to the ill fated Dan-Air crash. Myself and other relations of the victims took part in the making of the film and one of the most poignant moments in the documentary was when the a a lady from Bury was handed her sister’s diary that was found at the crash site and had been kept by the finder for fifty years.

[@DaysofHorror]

Hi Douglas, many thanks for contacting us and we are extremely sorry for your loss. We cannot even begin to think of the trauma you and your family, as well as the other families, went through. Its such a sad case and the more I think about it, one that could and should have been avoided. The documentary, I hope, manages to find its way out into the public domain. We had to pause it at times as for us watching, it was upsetting, especially when the photographer revisited the scenes of the wreckage and matched up the old photos to what it looks like today. You could see how visibly upset he was. I hope yourself and many others have found some inner peace, as hard as it must have been after all these years 🙏

[@rockpot58]

@@DaysofHorror Thank you for keeping their memories alive.

[@MarkPMus]

For those who’d like to know a bit more about what went wrong on the flight from an aviation point of view, there is a channel here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aoq1eXyGaZmXodksi=YiSKFD3sK2eKs1N5 which goes into it, whilst remaining not too technical. I came across this video quite by chance, and had to find out more about it. My thought are with all those affected - a terrible thing to happen. So sad.

[@suzukinez]

Sincere thoughts to your family Doug 🙏🏿

[@JanetTurner-ff6zk]

I went to school with Norma, I found out that she died in this crash some time later.

[@jochemb.1748]

I flew with a Dan Air Comet from Berlin to London, a few weeks after that crash. The Comet was a surprise, because a different plane, I think a BAC 1-11, was announced for this flight. I remember that I was very frightened for the whole flight time, of course because of that crash and also because of the history of the Comet!

[@AcornElectron]

This is one I already knew. I live about five minutes walk from this cemetery. Absolutely tragic, some of my mums school friends and their families were onboard. Keep telling people about the past, they’re never forgotten if we remember them.

[@DaysofHorror]

Thanks Konix. We knew before we went over to Burnley that there would be many people still attached to this story so we tried to be as sensitive as we could. The actual documentary we were given access to is truly eye opening on what went wrong that afternoon and some of the witnesses who are being interviewed for the documentary, well, you can tell it affected them badly, what they encountered etc when going to the mountainside to help.

[@elizabethmitchell123]

My good friend Sylvia Hemingway died in this crash, she was from near Doncaster, we had a memorial service in Askern, she was a much loved only child and her parents never got over it. Remembered with great affection !

[@DaysofHorror]

It's such a sad tragedy and one that should never have happened. We have heard of many similar tragedies and many of them are human error which for me makes them all the more sad.

[@gregodianne]

One of my secondary school teachers died in this tragedy. Miss George (and her sister) from Atherton Lancashire. I was 14 at the time. Miss George had earlier led a school trip in 1966 (or early 1967) to Innsbruck Austria and I was one of the kids she took along, my first ever trip abroad thanks to Miss George. She was a very nice person and particularly her school colleagues must have been shocked to learn what happened.

[@donnabooth9904]

My heart goes out to all them people what lost their lives in that plane crash Chris you did amazing video x❤

[@DaysofHorror]

It's horrific isn't it. So many lives lost all due to human error 😯

[@user-yb5qu7oh5v]

At that time I worked in a shop at Duke Bar and one of my customers lost her daughter Elaine Feeney in the crash. When I saw her name on the Burnley memorial it brought back the memory of her mother telling me that she was one of the victims.

[@DaysofHorror]

Its a very tragic story and one I only came across a couple of years ago. Its an example of something so terrible going wrong that could easily have been avoided.

[@ac9110]

That was very interesting and very respectfully done. It's earned a Subscribe.

[@paulduckworth316]

Great content, knowledge and explained well👍 wasn't aware previously. Terribly sad for all involved. RIP

[@DaysofHorror]

Hi Paul. Its a truly sad story and an accident that could so easily have been averted.

[@darrenbowden3222]

You had stockport air disaster a few years before this too. RIP 🙏

[@DaysofHorror]

Hi Darren, I'll have a look at that story. It's one I'm not familiar at all with.

[@darrenbowden3222]

@@DaysofHorror that would be fantastic

[@judithkeane5551]

Just found your channel by chance. For some reason I started thinking about a plane crash I remembered as a teenager. I was certain all the victims were buried in Spain. Although I am from the north west I had no connection with this flight or anyone on board. I just remember many shocking images in the news papers. I decided to look on line and found your very interesting channel ! Thank you for your respectful coverage , I am now subscribing!

[@DaysofHorror]

Man thanks Judith and for becoming part of the channel 😀 We try our best to cover the local areas we live in or close to, but we are travelling further afield now covering more stories.

[@allanthomas-wc8ff]

A girl who I was at school with in Wythenshawe, near Manchester Airport, was on this flight, although I knew nothing of this accident till many years later when Friends Reunited was online. On F.R. there was a school site for past pupils, one of which now then lived in Australian, mentioned the name of the girl and that he was shocked at the news of the crash and I thought that I never heard of the crash but at the time of the crash I was 17, so didn't really listen to the news. Next day in work, this would be in the early 1990's, I asked a work mate who was about 10 years older than me, if he knew of this accident, to my surprise he said the surname of the girl and went on to explain that growing up he lived next door to the family. All of the family died in the crash except one, an older daughter who was a semi professional ice skater and she was taking part in an important skating contest, so did not go with the rest of the family. She was a lovely girl and very clever. Rest in Peace Heather

[@benclark1753]

Good work thanks, mate, i remember hearing about this crash years ago, but i didn`t know a great deal about it until i watched your video, so thanks for the story, well done.

[@DaysofHorror]

Thanks Ben. I'd heard of it when I was younger but as with life, I just forgot about it until we started looking in these local stories. Such a sad tragedy that just didn't need to have happened.

[@jonfitz2278]

Nice one Mate Keep up the Amazing work

[@DaysofHorror]

Many thanks Jon. We have a couple of different things lined up all being well these next two weeks.

[@Oldladysgin]

It was found that the aircraft had been off course for some time before the crash, the site of the crash is some distance from Barcelona airport. The flight never reached the Sabadell beacon despite the report from the crew.

[@gavinyoungweddingentertain4596]

Great video

[@tombaker4586]

I never heard of this crash before, your videos are very well made, i will check out the other videos. Greetings, Tom, Brussels.

[@DaysofHorror]

Cheers Tom! Yeah, it's a tragic one indeed. I was also told of another plane tragedy not to far from Manchester which we will be covering soon, and it's one I'd never heard of too.

[@Oldladysgin]

It is usual in Spain for people to be buried within 48hrs of death, sometimes the next day. Memorial services may be held later. The condition of the bodies and the lack of refrigeration, at the time, would have meant this inevitable, sadly.

[@GraveVisitations]

Very sad and tragic 💔 as you said they never got to say goodbye to loved ones. Great video and story 👍 an Aerlingus plane back in the 1960s crashed off tusker rock lighthouse all on board killed. Its still unsolved to this day as to how or why it went down. Mass grave here in wexford I've been to video. One of the victims brothers actually commented under the video. It was flying from Cork to London

[@DaysofHorror]

Hi Grave! Thanks for watching. Ill check your video out this evening when I finish work. But yes, I guess accidents of this kind are just the worse as know one expects it to happen and there is no final closure to speak of. We have another story like this that occurred near us in Stockport which I'd never heard of until this week.

[@GraveVisitations]

@@DaysofHorror the one here had many theories including a missile took it down off the coast of Wales

[@bertcert991]

I traveled to Majorca on a Dan Air comet three weeks later it was a nerve wracking experience they didn’t exactly inspire confidence

[@DaysofHorror]

I bet it was worrying. I think when things like what happened, happens, people will always feel reluctant to travel. Especially so soon after.

[@ninamoores]

It was hardly DanAir’s fault .Flight crew have to rely on and obey instructions given by air traffic control.In this case it was mis-direction by Spanish ATC

[@Gdre123]

Our family - myself, my mum, dad, sister, and her husband and their young daughter, My aunt and uncle, cousin and his wife, also our 16-year-old cousin were going away to Spain for the first time and My aunt who had organised it told mum what date we were going on but my mum said it was too hot for her and we needed to go earlier. So my aunt changed the dates and because of Mum we all survived. My heart goes out to the families that died that day.

[@DaysofHorror]

I guess when something as tragic as what occurred back in 1970 happens, for those like yourself and your family, it must stay with you forever, and whilst time can at times be a good healer, I cannot even pretend to imagine how people cope in such circumstances. Your family definately seem extremely strong. Also, perhaps something more spiritual may have influenced your mothers instincts by not travelling on that plane - thats if you believe in that kind of thing anyway. But its a sad and tragic event that should never have happened.

[@Gdre123]

@@DaysofHorror Yes, even though I did fly with my husband over the years I had to have quite a few gin & tonics and dreaded coming home again on the plane but luckily my husband never pushes me these days to fly. How our lives would have changed. My boyfriend then, now my husband, and I would never have had 3 beautiful children and 4 beautiful grandchildren. x

[@iant9461]

So do you remember your mum actually saying she was cancelling the holiday for another date before or after the crash?

[@stebishopnomad1838]

There was also a plane crash at Manchester airport itself,where a vickers viscount crashed into a hanger where the little private planes and helicopters were stored. It happened in the 50s i think and the viscount was the first aircraft i flew on. Loving your videos by the way ❤

[@DaysofHorror]

Thanks Ste. There is another crash that took place somewhere around Manchester or Stockport, I'll have to check exactly where, but that was terrible too 😞

[@grahamholden3537]

Remember it well , actually flew to palma a week after on a comet😮

[@matparks08]

Tragic, and yeah, not a story I'd heard of at all. 😕

[@tombaker4586]

Also Danair in Spain 1980 is not well known, only discovered it last year, what a drama...

[@neilhilton35]

That was the Dan Air flight from Manchester to Tenerife North. Crashed into the mountain not far from Los Rodeus.

[@gavinyoungweddingentertain4596]

One of our family members Peter Helm and his friends who all played football together for Brittania wanderers lost this lives in this tragedy 🙏🙏

[@DaysofHorror]

May they all rest in peace Gavin. We kept reading that 7 people connected with the club had sadly died so we were surprised that the memorial had 9 names on it. Such as sad and tragic story that could well have been prevented 😟

[@darrenbowden3222]

Sorry for your loss

[@Jkk55]

So very sad that is one of my greatest fears I hate flying thank you very interesting.👏

[@DaysofHorror]

I don't mind flying but at some point I do get nervy, every time I fly. But yes, this is a tragedy that could easily have been avoided 😟

[@Amathusukx]

Be nice to see the other forgotten disaster in Stockport.

[@DaysofHorror]

I think I've read up on that, but it was earlier this year. I'll have a look through our notes, but yes, this is a story we could do..

[@simonpearn479]

Never heard of this terrible accident?!

[@ALLDAYKPOP]

What happened in that cemetery? Most of the tombstones you passed looked vandalized :(

[@DaysofHorror]

A lot of them have just fallen into disrepair and are being held up with a brace to stop them tumbling over. There are a lot of old headstones dating back to the end of the 1800s, especially in the lower or older part of that cemetery.

[@pauletchells4127]

R.I.P SAD DAY

[@suzukinez]

Hi I live in Runcorn and there’s a grave of a young girl with the surname if I remember right “Shaw” On the grave I can’t remember first name but it states “was tragically killed in the 1970 Barcelona Air Disaster. Will this be just a memorial likely or did any victims get possibly exhumed out the Spanish village plot and repatriated maybe?

[@DaysofHorror]

I dont think any bodies have been exhumed and repatriated back on home soil. I could be wrong, but I think many villages and towns had their own memorials put in place.

[@AmimanTravels]

A very informative video done with respect But do you know it is illegal to video in a graveyard in the UK I'm not complaining about it just giving you a heads up

[@DaysofHorror]

And what makes you think we haven't asked or received permission?

[@AmimanTravels]

@@DaysofHorror I'm not saying you haven't but a stream I mod on from LBA airport he was streaming from back of the graveyard not showing the headstones got a bollocking from someone who said it was illegal he checked when he got home and it is illegal Like I said I'm not having a go just giving you heads up in case you didn't know 👍

[@DaysofHorror]

@AmimanTravels We usually do ask in advance of filming. Especially bigger graveyards and cemeteries like Burnley, Blackburn and Highgate. Even though we rarely get a reply back from some of them. Even then, we normally see volunteers working in many of them when we film and we always go over for a chat and mention what we are doing. Some we just can't find any contact info, especially a couple of the abandoned ones we have visited. They can be a right pain in trying to find contact details.

[@greys7545]

Such a shame that documentary is only subtitled in Catalan and not English

[@DaysofHorror]

Yes, I said the same. The documentary is brilliantly and sensitively put together.

[@greys7545]

@@DaysofHorror I did find a trailer in English where you can apply for a screener version

[@iant9461]

Is that not half the cast of Are You Being Served boarding that plane?

[@DaysofHorror]

@@iant9461 yep, it's in the description 😀

[@antonybarker8841]

film trailer link??

[@DaysofHorror]

It's already in the description, but here you go anyway - lakaseta.com/en/montseny-the-buried-tragedy/

[@nigelcooper4285]

Good heavens man, get your facts right….

[@DaysofHorror]

Do explain further. It would help 👍 I always say, if we get anything wrong, don't be a dick about it and just let us know where.

[@stevemulligan8427]

Hi Chris send me a message I might have a forgotten mystery for you to investigate…DMs Dad 🐒

[@DaysofHorror]

I've just messaged you over on Instagram 👍

[@stevemulligan8427]

I can’t get on instagram anymore…I’ll get Ant to send it you

[@davideck]

Very morbid account of an already tragic event. This video does nothing to honour the memories of those lost. It’s just ghoulish.

[@DaysofHorror]

Thanks for watching. And considering we have had emails from family members of those who sadly died, all saying thanks, I think we did okay with it. But thanks anyway.