Aeropostal Alas de Venezuela Colombian airline, LANSA. Until TACA de Venezuela was completely absorbed by LAV in 1958, the route to Bogotá was flown using TACA aircraft in TACA livery. During the 1950s, LAV opened a transatlantic service and began flying to Panama (in 1953). The Constellation fleet was upgraded to L-1049G Super Constellations. An order for the first jet airliner, the De Havilland Comet 1, was placed, but with the Comet crashes of the 1950s, the airline never got their Comet jets. On 24 March 1956, LAV introduced its first turboprop, a Vickers Viscount 701 which was to replace the older piston engined
1958 London Vickers Viking accident 1958 London Vickers Viking accident The London Vickers Viking accident occurred on 2 September 1958 when an Independent Air Travel Vickers VC.1 Viking (registration "G-AIJE"), loaded with two Bristol Proteus turboprop engines as cargo, and with three crew members aboard, attempted a flight from London Heathrow Airport to Tel Aviv via Nice, Brindisi and Athens. The aircraft took off from Heathrow at 05:54 Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) but 15 minutes after take off the flight crew reported engine problems and requested a return to Blackbushe Airport. The crew was cleared by Air Traffic Control to descend to 3000 feet, but