Today marks 60 years since the loss of BOAC Flight 911, a Boeing 707-436 that broke apart in mid-air after encountering extreme clear-air turbulence exceeding 7.5G near Mount Fuji.
A TV crew had just filmed the aircraft taxiing past the wreckage of Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 402 — a Douglas DC-8 that had crashed the previous day, killing 64 people — as it departed Tokyo Haneda Airport.
Just 15 minutes later, the BOAC jet (G-APFE) broke up in severe turbulence, killing all 124 onboard.
It remains the second-deadliest disaster involving a British aircraft.