London Underground stations have bizarre histories and you might not know that one of them was nearly the scene of a plane crash. Liverpool Street is built atop an old burial site, while Rayner’s Lane was named after the only person in the immediate vicinity – farmer Daniel Rayner.
But this station stands out as having another unexpected tale behind it which makes its history stand out. South Ruislip Underground Station is in Zone 5 and sits on the Central Line.
But back on December 10 1946, an aeroplane with ice on its wings smashed into a nearby house. Railway Air Services Dakota was meant to make the quick trip from Northolt Airport to Glasgow, on behalf of Scottish Airways.
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However as the plane waited on the runway, fresh snow fell and instantly froze on its wings. The pilot retrospectively clarified that it was hard to gain height as the ice had meddled with the plane’s air-flow, but at this stage mission abort was out of the question.
He couldn’t find proper height and was flying just metres off the ground, with the plane gunning for Angus Drive, landing on numbers 44 and 46. But the skill of the pilot, essentially landed neatly on the roof where a toddler was sleeping.
It was carrying five passengers, and miraculously there were no injuries – in the home or on-board. The crew passengers escaped via the loft, and left through the front door of the house.
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