Rome 's Ciampino airport , the site of the first Comet hull loss , was the origin of more disastrous Comet flights just over a year later . On 10 January 1954 , 20 minutes after taking off from Ciampino , the first production Comet , G-ALYP , broke up in mid-air while operating BOAC Flight 781 and crashed into the Mediterranean off the Italian island of Elba with the loss of all 35 on board . With no witnesses to the disaster and only partial radio transmissions as incomplete evidence , no obvious reason for the crash could be deduced . Engineers at de Havilland immediately recommended 60 modifications aimed at any possible design flaw while the Abell Committee met to determine potential causes of the crash . BOAC also voluntarily grounded its Comet fleet pending investigation into the causes of the accident
BOAC Flight 781
BOAC Flight 781
De Havilland Comet