50 years ago – Zagreb Mid-Air Collision September 10 1976 - British Airways Flight 476 (Trident) and Inex-Adria Aviopromet Flight 550 (DC-9) collide over Zagreb; all 176 on both planes die. At the time, it was the deadliest mid-air collision in history The accident was due to a procedural error by Zagreb ATC, undermanned and poorly equipped at the time. The BA Trident, on cruise at flight level 330, collided with the DC-9 that had been cleared to climb through the same altitude. The inquiry stated the disaster resulted from air traffic control errors at the understaffed Zagreb centre. Controllers failed to properly coordinate the DC-9’s climb between sectors and did not maintain vertical separation from the Trident. Unreliable radar and high workload contributed. In the final seconds, the controller switched to Serbo-Croatian (instead of English) when ordering the DC-9 to stop climbing, so the British crew could not understand the warning, and the instruction came too late. The accident remains the deadliest aviation accident in Yugoslav and Croatian history. It is also the only British Airways accident to result in fatalities excluding subsidiaries (BEA) or former identities (such as BOAC)

"Charles, the Prince who fell to earth" OTD in 1994: a RAF BAe 146 on a VIP flight has a runway excursion in Islay (Scotland), no injuries. The approach exceeded jet performance, tailwind was also a factor. Charles (Then Prince of Wales) was at the controls. The report noted the Pilot in Command (which was not HRH) was negligent, and the Navigator failed to warn him during the maneuver. More info here, from ASN ⬇️ "(...) With a 12 kt tailwind, the approach was fast and unstable. The aircraft landed long on its nose gear, delaying spoiler deployment. It ran off the end after the brakes were applied before full anti-skid protection, bursting both inboard main tyres (...) An inquiry found the captain negligent for failing to intervene and the navigator negligent for not highlighting the tailwind and unstable approach."

OTD in 1980: Redcoat Flight 103, a cargo Britannia, crashes in Boston (US), only 1 of 8 aboard survives. Accident occurred shortly after takeoff in bad weather. Report stated ice accumulation on wings degraded performance. Turbulence and met report info were also factors.