loading image

Introduced in 1952, the de Havilland D.H. 106 Comet was the first commercial passenger jetliner to enter service, years before the introduction of other jetliners. Initially seen as a major landmark in aeronautical engineering, after intermittent operation and several disastrous structural failures, service and production were canceled until airframe engineering deficiencies could be corrected. As a result, after many years of redesigning, the much-improved, lengthened, Comet Mk. 4 was finally delivered to BOAC (British Overseas Airways Corporation) in 1958. Shortly after, the airline inaugurated regular transatlantic jet service from London to New York with one refueling stop in Newfoundland. BEA (British European Airways) inaugurated shorter-range Comet Mk. 4B service on its Tel Aviv to London route in April 1960. The Comet Mk. 4 had a cruising speed of just over five hundred miles an hour and comfortably accommodated up to eighty-one passengers, but ultimately could not compete with the Boeing 707 or the Douglas DC-8. This image was posted on June 16, 2021.