For the passengers who had a view out of the port windows aboard BOAC Flight 712 to Zurich, enroute to Sydney, Australia, it must have seemed that their worst nightmares had come true. One and a half minutes after takeoff on the clear and sunny afternoon of April 9, 1968, the no.2 engine of Boeing 707 G-ARWE broke away from its mounting pylon and fell, tumbling in flames, over Hounslow, on the fringe of London's Heathrow Airport. For Captain Charles Taylor and his four companions on the flight deck, the drama had begun 80 seconds earlier, and confusion had added to the difficulties.
Captain Taylor lifted Flight 712 off of runway 28L at 15.27hrs. Besides his First Officer and engineering officer, the flight deck also housed an acting first officer and a supervisory captain running a routine check on Captain Taylor's performance. Twenty seconds into the flight with the undercarriage up and locked and noise abatement power time approaching, there was a loud bang and the crew felt a shock tremor. The throttle lever for the no.2 engine kicked back towards the closed position, and the engine's instruments showed it was slowing down.
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