Memories of 'the miracle of Heathrow'

On April 8, 1968, New Zealand was occupied with the Wahine disaster, but on the other side of the world Taipa woman Marion Duncan was facing an equally horrific disaster.

She was a passenger on BOAC (now British Airways) Flight 712, which British newspapers would dub "the miracle of Heathrow".

The 25-year-old nurse aide and her cousin Lynnaire Porteous (nee Williamson) were on their way to Israel, planning to stay on a kibbutz for a few weeks before returning to New Zealand after living in England. They had tried to get to Jerusalem, a few years before, four days before the Six-Day War, and fled via Turkey.

The flight on this Boeing 707 was Marion's first on a "big plane". Flying was still something of a novelty, and she had sailed to the United Kingdom three and a half years earlier.

Flight 712 was carrying 126 passengers and crew, including British pop star Mark Wynter and Israel's ambassador to the USSR. Marion and Lynnaire were two of three New Zealanders on board; the third was pilot Captain Cliff Taylor, whose skill saved the lives of all but five.

Marion recalled that the No2 engine mechanics were damaged as a result of metal fatigue shortly after takeoff, causing a main fuel line to become dislodged, squirting highly flammable aviation gas across the hot but disabled engine.

Sitting on the left-hand side of the plane, she had just finished reading the safety manual when she glanced to the right and saw a red glow.

"I just thought it was the sun glowing on the wing. The next thing we see a steward look out the window and run to the cockpit. Then we were told to prepare for an emergency landing," she said.

That involved passengers placing pillows on their knees and resting their heads on them, but she didn't recall anyone panicking or making much fuss.

"There was silence, no panic at all. I remember looking out the window at one stage and I could see the runway, and thought to myself 'We're going to make it'," she said.

Air traffic control cleared Flight 712 to make a low sweeping 360-degree turn, which would allow it to land upwind on runway 281. But Captain Taylor believed he did not have time to do that. He wanted to land on a closer but shorter runway.

By now the flight was being watched in horror by thousands, including Prince Phillip, who was sitting at his desk at Windsor Castle, near Heathrow. Pieces of wing and engine were falling off and the plane had flames trailing behind it.

"I remember three large explosions when the plane was brought to a halt. And I can't have been panicking much as I managed to reach under my seat and grab my vanity bag, which contained my wallet and passport," Marion added.

Even with the plane safely on the ground the drama was far from over, however. The crosswind that had kept the flames trailing behind the plane was now pushing them across and under the fuselage.

The cabin crew managed to evacuate all but four of the passengers safely. Marion and her cousin were ushered out of the front exit, and it wasn't until they got across the runway that they could look back and see the full extent of what they had just survived.

"We just ran and turned around, and were gobsmacked at what was actually happening," she said.

The women were herded into a building, a roll call was taken, Lynnaire was interviewed by media and then they were sent on their way. There was no counselling in those days.

They stayed with relatives and rang family in New Zealand to tell them they were safe, but their luggage had gone, leaving them with what they were standing in.

"The worst thing was when we had to fly to Israel four days later. I just went to my doctor and got a sedative," Marion added.

They received a little compensation, but did get a letter promising further assistance, if required, from BOAC. Lynnaire pursued that five years later and received return flights to the UK for herself and her husband. Marion attempted the same a few years later and received nothing.

"I believe they were under a lot of financial pressure at that time," she said.

Once safely home it would be 30 years before she boarded another plane though, but, wanting to visit a son living in Canada, she benefited from an open day at an aerodrome. She was invited to join the pilots in the cockpit for the first 40 minutes of the flight to Canada.

"That really eased my mind, being up there with them. I told them all about the 'miracle landing', and they loved hearing about it," she said.

Marion has since done much more flying, but admits that she gets a little uptight during turbulence. And what would she say to Captain Taylor, who died 10 years ago?

"I guess thank you is about all you can say. Every time there's a Wahine commemoration it brings all these memories of the flight back to me. I was just lucky I suppose."

Shortly after the crash the Queen twice recommended Captain Taylor, who grew up in Warkworth, for a Royal honour, the private secretary to then Prime Minister Harold Wilson replying that protocol precluded the conferring of awards until after the official inquiry.

At the completion of the inquiry, a year later, it was decided that no award would be given, because as the captain of the aircraft Taylor was ultimately responsible for what happened on the flight deck, and the inquiry found that two of the crew had made mistakes.

The investigators said Taylor performed his duty exactly as required and landed the plane safely after a remarkable piece of flying. The inquiry considered the errors were partly a result of complicated emergency procedures, which were changed after the report was published.

Taylor continued to fly with BOAC/British Airways, on one occasion flying the Queen and Prince Phillip to Nairobi.

Stewardess Jane Harrison, who went back to the plane to help stranded passengers and lost her own life, was recognised however.

She was posthumously awarded the George Cross, the first woman to be so honoured since World War II.