A Brief History of: The de Havilland Comet Design Disaster 1954

The DH 106 de Havilland Comet the world's first commercial jet airliner, and its tragic design failure that led to multiple losses of life, aircraft, and ultimately the end of the British Air industry.

Three Comets were lost within twelve months in highly publicised accidents, after suffering catastrophic in-flight break-ups.

Two of these were found to be caused by structural failure resulting from metal fatigue in the airframe, BOAC Flight 781 and South African Airways Flight 201.

All of this was the due of the design using square windows.