NS4766 : Airtours Memorial
taken 12 years ago, near to Glasgow Airport, Renfrewshire, Scotland
On 3 September 1999, a Cessna 404 carrying nine Airtours staff from Glasgow to Aberdeen on a transfer flight, crashed minutes after take off near the town of Linwood, Renfrewshire. Eight people were killed and three seriously injured. No one on the ground was hurt.
A fatal accident inquiry into the accident later found that the aircraft developed an engine malfunction during take off. Although the captain decided to return to the airfield, he mistakenly identified the working engine as the faulty one and shut it down, causing the aircraft to crash.
The crash claimed the lives of Colin Finnie, 32, of Irvine, Ayrshire; Pauline Moyes, 38, from Renton, Dunbartonshire; Helen Steven, 28, from Helensburgh, Dunbartonshire and Lynn McCulloch, 25, from Kirkintilloch, Dunbartonshire, who all worked for Airtours.
The plane's pilots John Easson, 48, from the Isle of Man, and Bill Henderson, 54, from Lower Largo, Fife, also died as did stewardesses Linda Taylor, 29 from Troon and Pauline MacIver, 31, from New Stevenson in Motherwell.
Aircrew staff members Captain Hugh O'Brien, 39, Kevan MacKenzie, 32, from Glasgow and Derek Morrison, 23, from Renfrew who survived the crash were treated in the nearby Glasgow Southern General Hospital with spinal injuries and burns.