1.

Introduction

This memo contains a failure report on the De Havilland Comet 1

commercial aircraft. A series of incidents involving the De Havilland comet, the
most severe of which being the mid-flight disintegration of three aircrafts,
resulted in 111 deaths and the new hope and pride of british aeronautical
engineering to be striped of its certificate of airworthiness. (Waterton & Hewat,
1955)(Withey, 1997) This report contain the following sections: a description of
the aircraft, as well as the events leading up to and including the failure; an
explanation and analysis of why the failure occurred and finally the lessons that
can be learned from this failure.
1. Uvod
Ovaj zapis sadri izvjee kvar u De Havilland Comet 1 komercijalnih zrakoplova.
Niz incidenata koji ukljuuju De Havilland kometa, od kojih je najtei bio sredinom
leta raspada tri zrakoplova, rezultiralo 111 smrtnih sluajeva i novu nadu i ponos
britanske zrakoplovne inenjeringa biti prugasta njegove svjedodbe o
plovidbenosti. (Waterton & Hewat, 1955) (Withey, 1997) Izvjee sadri sljedee
dijelove: opis zrakoplova, kao i dogaaje koji su doveli do i ukljuujui neuspjeh;
objanjenje i analizu zato neuspjeh dogodio i na kraju lekcije koje se mogu
nauiti iz ovog neuspjeha.
2.

Description

The De Havilland Comet 1 took its first commercial flight on May 2, 1952,
becoming the first ever jet engine propelled commercial aircraft and promising a
bright future for the british aircraft industry. (Waterton & Hewat, 1955) (Withey,
1997) The aircraft was propelled by four Ghost Turbojet engines each producing
5000 pounds of thrust, giving the plane a cruising speed of 450 mph at a altitude
of 40 000 feet. This high altitude required the cabin to be pressurized to the
equivalent of 8000 feet. (Withey, 1997)(NASA)
2. Opis
De Havilland Comet 1 uzeo svoj prvi komercijalni let na 2. svibnja 1952., postavi
prvi mlazni motor pogon komercijalnih zrakoplova i obeavaju svijetlu budunost
za britanske zrakoplovne industrije. (Waterton & Hewat, 1955) (Withey, 1997)
Zrakoplov se pokree etiri Duh Turbo Jet motori proizvoditi 5000 funti potisak,
ime je avion brzinu krstarenja od 450 km na sat na visini od 40 000 stopa. Ova
visoka nadmorska visina potrebna kabinu da se tlak u protuvrijednosti od 8000
stopa. (Withey, 1997) (NASA)
The majority of the aircraft was constructed using an adhesive called Redux to
glue the 22 gauge aluminum skin to the stringers, the exception being at some
locations on the wings and around cut outs such as windows where standard
riveting was employed. The pressure difference across this 22 gauge skin was
8.25 psi, twice that of any previous situation. (Withey, 1997) May 2, 1953, exactly
one year after the comets inaugural flight the comet G-ALYV (Yoke Victor)
encounters a tropical storm and breaks up mid-air over india. Next on January

8th, 1954, the comet G-ALYP (Yoke Peter) was heard to be climbing to 27000 ft
when contact was lost and the aircraft could be seen to break up and crash into
the sea near Elba, this time in good weather conditions. (See Figure One) This
resulted in the comets being grounded but after only a few small modifications
the fleet was back in service and on April 8th 1954 another comet, G-ALYY ( Yoke
Yoke) disintegrated as it reached the top of its climb. Once again in good weather
the aircraft plummeted into the sea near Naples. (Withey, 1997) (Waterton &
Hewat, 1955) After the fatalities resulting from these unexplainable crashes the
De Havilland Comet was grounded for good, loosing its certificate of
airworthiness. Extensive investigations began, including the recovery and
reconstruction of 70% of the Yoke Peter, in an attempt to uncover the reasons
behind these failures (See Figure one) (Waterton & Hewat, 1955)(UofP Faculty of
Technology)
Veina zrakoplova je izgraen koritenjem ljepila pod nazivom "Redux" lijepiti na
22 gauge aluminijsku kou gredama, izuzetak je na nekim mjestima na krilima i
oko odsjeaka kao to su prozori, gdje je zaposleno standardni zakivanje. Razlika
tlaka kroz ovaj 22 gauge koe je 8.25 psi, dvostruko vie od bilo koje prethodne
situacije. (Withey, 1997) 2. svibnja 1953, tono godinu dana nakon to su kometi
nastupni let je komet G-ALYV (jaram Victor) susree tropsku oluju i razbija se
zraku iznad Indije. Sljedea 8. sijenja 1954., komet G-ALYP (jaram Petar) je ula
da se penje na 27.000 ft kada je kontakt izgubljen, a zrakoplov se moe vidjeti da
se razbiti i pad u more u blizini Elbe, ovaj put u lijepom vremenu uvjeti. (Vidi Sliku
jedan) To je rezultiralo kometa uzemljuju, ali nakon samo nekoliko manjih izmjena
flota je povratak u slubu i 8. travnja 1954. drugi komet, G-ALYY (jaram jaram)
raspala jer dosegla vrh svog uspona. Opet u dobrom vremenu zrakoplov pala u
more u blizini Napulja. (Withey, 1997) (Waterton & Hewat, 1955) Nakon smrtnih
sluajeva koji proizlaze iz njih neobjanjivo rui De Havilland Comet utemeljena
na dobro, gubi svjedodbu o plovidbenosti. Opsena istraga zapoela, ukljuujui
oporavak i obnovu 70% jaram Petra, u pokuaju da se otkriju razloge tih kvarova
(vidi sliku jednu) (Waterton & Hewat, 1955) (UofP Tehnoloki fakultet)

Figure 1: Recovered and Reconstructed Yoke Peter (UofP Faculty of Technology)

Slika 1: oporavio i Rekonstruirana jaram Petar (UofP Tehnoloki fakultet)

Reasons for the Failure

Overall the De Havilland Comet 1 can be said to be a failure of
engineering design for several reasons. The most significant failures, the

in-air disintegrations described, were a result of fatigue crack growth due

to repeated pressurization but a more in depth look is required as there
are several reasons behind why this occurred. On one level the failures
occurred due metal fatigue in high stress areas the growth of small
cracks around bolt holes created process of riveting during
manufacturing which were virtually invisible at the time of manufacture.
(See Figure 2 & 3) (Withey, 1997)(UofP Faculty of Technology) The
particular alloy of aluminum, DTD 546B, used for the aircrafts skin has a
high rate of crack growth and in areas around cut out where stresss
were concentrated, to an excess of 315 MPa, cracks propagated to failure
after relatively few pressurization cycles. (Withey, 1997) On another level,
the reason behind the use of riveting around the square cut outs, despite
the initial suggestions of the chief designer, was that the tooling required
to utilize redux in these areas would be too difficult and expensive to
produce. This would not have been a problem had ovular cut outs been
used as seen on revised models of the Comet. (Withey, 1997) (UofP
Faculty of Technology) Finally the methods used in initial testing of the
fuselage during pressurization occurred in such an order that the faults
were allowed to pass unnoticed. (Withey, 1997) (Waterton & Hewat,
1955)
Razlozi za neuspjeh
Sveukupno De Havilland Comet 1 moe se rei da je neuspjeh inenjering dizajn
za nekoliko razloga. Najznaajniji neuspjesima, sredstva za raspadanje u zrak,
opisani su rezultat rasta pukotine zamora zbog ponovljenog pressurization ali vie
u dubini pogled je potrebno kao to postoji nekoliko razloga iza zato se to
dogodilo. Na jednoj razini je neuspjesi dolo zbog metal umor u podrujima visoke
stresa rast malih pukotina oko rupa za vijke stvorio proces zakivanje tijekom
proizvodnje koje su gotovo nevidljive u vrijeme proizvodnje. (Vidi sliku 2 i 3)

(Withey, 1997) (UofP Tehnolokom fakultetu) odreenog legure aluminija, DTD

546B, koristi za zrakoplove koe ima visoku stopu rasta pukotine i na podrujima
oko izrezati gdje stres bili koncentrirani, s vikom 315 MPa, pukotine
razmnoavati neuspjeha nakon relativno malo tlaenje ciklusa. (Withey, 1997) Na
drugoj razini, razlog uporabe zakivanje oko trga odsjeaka, unato poetnim
prijedlozima glavni dizajner, bilo da je alata potrebno koristiti Redux u tim
podrujima e biti previe teko i skupo proizvoditi , To ne bi bio problem imao
ovular odsjeaka koriteni kao to se vidi na revidiranih modela Comet. (Withey,
1997) (UofP Tehnoloki fakultet) Konano metode koritene u poetno ispitivanje
trupa tijekom pressurization dogodila u takvom bi da su greke bilo doputeno da
proe nezapaeno. (Withey, 1997) (Waterton & Hewat, 1955)

Figure 2: Evidence of Fatigue Failure in Aircraft Skin (UofP Faculty of Technology)

Slika 2: Dokazi umora neuspjeha u oplati zrakoplova (UofP Tehnoloki fakultet)

Figure 3: Main site of failure on Comet Yoke Peter (UofP Faculty of

Technology)
Figure 3: Main site of failure on Comet Yoke Peter (UofP Faculty of Technology)

4. Lessons to be Learned
To begin with when dealing with any engineering project,
especially pioneering projects that could result in the highest of
consequences should they fail, we as engineers must be sure conduct
thorough investigations and testing in order to design the project such
that it minimize risk wherever possible. Thorough testing is also the
responsibilities of engineers to ensure that not even the smallest of
details is overlooked. In the case of the comet, had more thorough testing
reviled that small crack produced during manufacturing could quickly

propagate around high stress areas many lives could have been saved.
Finally nothing should take precedence over safety and no decision
should be made based on some concern at the cost of safety.
4. Lekcije se ui
Za poetak, kada se bave s bilo inenjering projekta, pogotovo pionirski projekte
koji bi mogli dovesti do najvie posljedica trebala uspiju, mi kao inenjeri moraju
biti sigurni provoditi temeljita istraivanja i ispitivanja, kako bi odredio projekt
tako da se minimizira rizik god je to mogue. Temeljito testiranje je ujedno i
odgovornosti inenjera kako bi se osiguralo da se ni najmanja detalja previdi. U
sluaju kometa, imala vie temeljita testiranja hulio da je mali prasak proizveo
tijekom proizvodnje brzo mogao iriti oko podruja visokog stresa mnogi ivoti
mogli su spremljene. Na kraju nita ne bi trebalo imati prednost nad sigurnosti i
bez odluke treba temeljiti na nekim zabrinutost troku sigurnosti.

1.

References

Waterton, W. A., & Hewat, T. (1955). The Comet Riddle. London, England :
Fredrick Muller LTD
University of Plymouth Faculty of technology. (n.d.). Failure as a design
criterion; Stucturanl Failures; Unforeseen Loads and Consequences;
Comet Airliner. Retrieved October 23, 2009,
http://www.tech.plym.ac.uk/sme/interactive_resources/tutorials/FailureCa
ses/index.html
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (n.d.) Quest for
Performane: The Evolution of Modern Aircraft, Part 2 The Jet Age,
Chapter 13: Jet Transports. Retrieved October 23, 2009, from
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/office/pao/History/SP-468/ch13-1.htm
Withey, P. A. (1997) Fatigue failure of the de Havil Havilland Comet 1
Engineering Failure Analysis, Volume 4, Issue 2, pg 147-154 Retrieved on
October 23, 2009 from ScienceDirect Database via Compendex Database