BOAC Flight 781 was a scheduled British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) passenger flight from Singapore to London. On 10 January 1954, a de Havilland Comet passenger jet operating the flight suffered an explosive decompression at altitude and crashed, killing all 35 people on board. The aircraft, registered G-ALYP, had taken off shortly before from Ciampino Airport in Rome, en route to Heathrow Airport in London, on the final leg of its flight from Singapore. After it exploded, the debris from the explosion fell into the sea near Elba Island, off the Italian coast.
G-ALYP was the third Comet built. Its loss marked the second in a series of three fatal accidents involving the Comet in less than twelve months, all caused by structural failures; it followed the crash of BOAC Flight 783 near Calcutta, India, in May 1953, and was followed by the loss of South African Airways Flight 201 in April 1954, which crashed in circumstances similar to BOAC 781 after departing from Ciampino Airport.
![BOAC Flight 781](https://cdn.calendarz.com/uploads/events/january/10/3378/boac-flight-781_compressed.webp)
1954Jan, 10
BOAC Flight 781, a de Havilland DH.106 Comet 1, explodes and falls into the Tyrrhenian Sea killing 35 people.
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Events on 1954
- 13Feb
NCAA Division I
Frank Selvy becomes the only NCAA Division I basketball player ever to score 100 points in a single game. - 28Feb
NTSC
The first color television sets using the NTSC standard are offered for sale to the general public. - 1Apr
United States Air Force Academy
United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorizes the creation of the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado. - 25Apr
Bell Labs
The first practical solar cell is publicly demonstrated by Bell Telephone Laboratories. - 18Jun
1954 Guatemalan coup d'état
Carlos Castillo Armas leads an invasion force across the Guatemalan border, setting in motion the 1954 Guatemalan coup d'état