1952 saw the launch of what was heralded as a triumph of British ingenuity and pioneering spirit: the revolutionary Comet, the world's first jet passenger airliner. But in less then two years, over 100 people would be killed in four catastrophic accidents and fleet grounded indefinitely.
The demise of the de Havilland Comet not only sucked the lifeblood from British aviation, it cast the UK back into the manufacturing dark ages - the defining event when the nation's industry finally capitulated to the US.