{"id":1668616,"date":"2026-06-10T15:15:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T13:15:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/?p=1668616"},"modified":"2026-06-25T13:33:05","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T11:33:05","slug":"de-havilland-comet-metal-fatigue-square-windows-investigation-1954","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/de-havilland-comet-metal-fatigue-square-windows-investigation-1954\/","title":{"rendered":"The de Havilland Comet: The Beautiful Jet That Taught Us How Aircraft Break"},"content":{"rendered":"<style>.et_pb_title_container h1.entry-title { padding-top: 40px !important; }<\/style>\n\nThe de Havilland Comet was the most beautiful airliner ever built. It was also the most deadly \u2014 and its failures saved more lives than any single aircraft in history.\n\n<em>We've written about the Comet before \u2014 see our <a href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/de-havilland-comet-first-jet-airliner-metal-fatigue-square-windows\/\" target=\"_blank\">earlier piece<\/a> on its legacy. This article focuses on the investigation that changed aviation forever.<\/em>\n\nWhen the Comet 1 entered service with BOAC on May 2, 1952, it was a revolution. Passengers stepped aboard an aircraft that flew twice as fast, twice as high, and infinitely smoother than any propeller-driven airliner. The cabin was pressurised to a comfortable altitude. The engines \u2014 four de Havilland Ghost turbojets buried in the wing roots \u2014 were virtually vibration-free compared to piston engines. For the first time, long-distance jet travel felt like the future.\n\nThen the future started falling out of the sky.\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe width=\"700\" height=\"394\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/v0Cg2ZeYa5E\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div><figcaption>Why You Wouldn&rsquo;t Want to Fly The First Jet Airliner &mdash; Mustard (6.4 million views)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Three Comets Lost<\/h2>\n\nOn January 10, 1954, BOAC Flight 781 disintegrated as it climbed through 27,000 feet shortly after takeoff from Rome. All 35 people aboard were killed. The wreckage fell into the Mediterranean near the island of Elba.\n\nThe Comet fleet was grounded. Engineers inspected every airframe, found nothing conclusive, and returned the type to service. Less than three weeks after the fleet returned to service, on April 8, 1954, South African Airways Flight 201 \u2014 flying a Comet chartered from BOAC \u2014 broke apart at altitude near Naples. Twenty-one dead. The Comet was grounded permanently.\n\nA third Comet had already been lost: BOAC Flight 783 crashed on takeoff from Calcutta in May 1953 during a violent storm, but this was attributed to structural overload in turbulence \u2014 a design problem, but a different one.\n\n\n<div style=\"background:#f0f4ff;border:1px solid #dbe4ff;border-radius:8px;padding:18px 22px;margin:18px 0 24px\">\n<p style=\"margin:0 0 10px;font-weight:700;color:#333;font-size:17px\">The Comet Crashes<\/p>\n<ul style=\"margin:0;padding-left:18px;color:#444;line-height:1.8\">\n<li><strong>BOAC Flight 783:<\/strong> 2 May 1953, Calcutta \u2014 43 killed (structural failure in storm)<\/li>\n<li><strong>BOAC Flight 781:<\/strong> 10 Jan 1954, Mediterranean near Elba \u2014 35 killed (metal fatigue)<\/li>\n<li><strong>SAA Flight 201:<\/strong> 8 Apr 1954, Mediterranean near Naples \u2014 21 killed (metal fatigue)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<blockquote style=\"border-left:4px solid #0073aa;padding:15px 20px;margin:20px 0;background:#f8f9fa;font-size:1.1em;\"><em>The Comet disasters led to one of the most important and far-reaching investigations in aviation history. Every modern airliner flies more safely because the Comet failed first.<\/em><\/blockquote>\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe width=\"700\" height=\"394\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-DjnG74DDno\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div><figcaption>YOU have Misunderstood The De Havilland Comet. It Wasn&rsquo;t the Windows! &mdash; Mentour Now! (649K views)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The Investigation That Changed Everything<\/h2>\n\nThe Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough launched the most thorough accident investigation the world had ever seen. Engineers recovered wreckage from the Mediterranean seabed \u2014 a pioneering underwater salvage operation \u2014 and painstakingly reconstructed the fuselage of Flight 781.\n\nThen they did something no one had attempted before. They took a complete Comet fuselage, placed it in a water tank, and subjected it to repeated pressurisation cycles \u2014 inflating and deflating the cabin thousands of times to simulate years of service.\n\nAfter the equivalent of 3,057 flights, the test fuselage burst \u2014 the failure starting beside the forward escape hatch cut-out. In the recovered wreckage of G-ALYP itself, investigators traced the fatal crack to a rivet hole at the rear automatic direction finder (ADF) window cutout in the roof. Under repeated pressurisation loads, microscopic cracks formed at stress concentration points around the square-cornered openings. After roughly 1,000 flight cycles, these cracks propagated through the skin until the fuselage failed catastrophically.\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"reddit-embed-bq\" data-embed-height=\"316\"><a href=\"https:\/\/reddit.com\/r\/todayilearned\/comments\/s3r08h\/\">TIL the world&rsquo;s first commercial jet airliner, the De Havilland Comet, suffered numerous fatal crashes in the 50&rsquo;s because the windows were square<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/embed.reddit.com\/widgets.js\"><\/script><h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">Square Windows Kill<\/h2>\n\nThe discovery was devastating in its simplicity. Square corners concentrate stress. Round corners distribute it. Every subsequent airliner \u2014 without exception \u2014 has used oval or round passenger windows. The Comet's square windows were not the only factor (the fuselage skin was also thinner than it should have been, and the rivet holes created additional stress risers), but they became the iconic lesson.\n\nMore broadly, the Comet investigation established the discipline of metal fatigue analysis in aviation. Before the Comet crashes, fatigue was poorly understood and rarely tested. After them, every aircraft manufacturer was required to demonstrate that their designs could withstand tens of thousands of pressurisation cycles without failure. The fail-safe design philosophy \u2014 build structures so that a crack in one element does not cause catastrophic failure \u2014 became standard.\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\"><iframe width=\"700\" height=\"394\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/YVvKk-rGJME\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div><figcaption>A Brief History of: The de Havilland Comet Design Disaster &mdash; Plainly Difficult (530K views)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\"><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/clark_aviation\/status\/2008427562049900621\"><\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\"><\/script><h2 style=\"padding-top:22px\">The Bitter Irony<\/h2>\n\nDe Havilland redesigned the Comet with oval windows, thicker skin, and structural improvements. The Comet 4 entered service in 1958 and was perfectly safe. But it was too late. Boeing had used the years of the Comet's grounding to develop the 707, which was bigger, faster, and more economical. The 707 defined the jet age. The Comet, which should have owned it, became a footnote.\n\nThe Comet\u2019s three fatal crashes had killed 99 people. The investigation it triggered has saved hundreds of thousands. No airliner since has suffered a pressurisation-fatigue failure of the kind that destroyed Flights 781 and 201.\n\nThat is the Comet's true legacy: the beautiful jet that taught the world how aircraft actually break.\n\n\n<blockquote style=\"border-left:4px solid #0073aa;padding:15px 20px;margin:20px 0;background:#f8f9fa;font-size:1.1em;\"><em>&ldquo;The Comet pushed the state-of-the-art beyond its limits.&rdquo;<\/em><br><strong>&mdash; Bill Withuhn, aviation historian<\/strong><\/blockquote>\n<em>Sources: FAA Lessons Learned, RAF Museum, Admiral Cloudberg, Plane and Pilot, New Atlas<\/em>\n\n<!-- mf-faq -->\n\n<div class=\"mf-faq-block\"><style>.mf-faq-block{margin:34px 0}.mf-faq-item:not([open]) .mf-faq-answer{display:none !important}.mf-faq-block h2.mf-faq-h{padding-top:22px;margin-bottom:14px}.mf-faq-item{border:1px solid #e2e8f5;border-radius:8px;margin:0 0 10px;background:#fff}.mf-faq-item summary{list-style:none;cursor:pointer;padding:15px 50px 15px 18px;font-weight:600;color:#1a1a1a;position:relative;line-height:1.45;user-select:none}.mf-faq-item summary::-webkit-details-marker{display:none}.mf-faq-item summary::after{content:\"+\";position:absolute;right:18px;top:50%;transform:translateY(-50%);font-size:1.5em;font-weight:400;color:#5C91FF;line-height:1}.mf-faq-item[open] summary::after{content:\"\\2013\"}.mf-faq-item[open] summary{border-bottom:1px solid #eef1f8}.mf-faq-item summary:hover{background:#f5f8ff}.mf-faq-answer{padding:14px 18px;color:#333;line-height:1.6}.mf-faq-answer p{margin:0}<\/style><h2 class=\"mf-faq-h\">Related Questions<\/h2><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>What was the de Havilland Comet?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>The de Havilland Comet was the world's first jet airliner, entering service with BOAC on 2 May 1952. It flew roughly twice as fast and twice as high as propeller airliners, in a smooth, near-vibration-free cabin \u2014 a revolution in air travel that briefly made Britain the leader in jet transport.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>Why did the de Havilland Comet crash?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>A series of Comets broke apart in flight in 1953\u20131954 due to metal fatigue. Repeated cabin pressurisation cycles cracked the airframe at stress points \u2014 famously the corners of its window openings \u2014 causing catastrophic mid-air disintegration.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>What did the Comet teach engineers about metal fatigue?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>The Comet disasters taught the aviation world how repeated pressurisation cycles fatigue an airframe. Investigators traced the failures to cracks spreading from sharp window corners, leading to rounded windows, better fatigue testing and design standards that make every modern airliner safer.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>When did the de Havilland Comet enter service?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>The Comet 1 entered service with BOAC on 2 May 1952, the first commercial jet airliner. It was grounded after the 1954 crashes and later returned in a redesigned, much-strengthened form as the Comet 4.<\/p><\/div><\/details><details class=\"mf-faq-item\"><summary>Why do aircraft windows have rounded corners?<\/summary><div class=\"mf-faq-answer\"><p>Because of the Comet. Its early near-square windows concentrated stress at the corners, where fatigue cracks began and led to fatal break-ups. Rounding the corners spreads the stress, and every pressurised aircraft since has used rounded windows as a direct result.<\/p><\/div><\/details><\/div>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@type\":\"FAQPage\",\"mainEntity\":[{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What was the de Havilland Comet?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The de Havilland Comet was the world's first jet airliner, entering service with BOAC on 2 May 1952. It flew roughly twice as fast and twice as high as propeller airliners, in a smooth, near-vibration-free cabin \u2014 a revolution in air travel that briefly made Britain the leader in jet transport.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Why did the de Havilland Comet crash?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"A series of Comets broke apart in flight in 1953\u20131954 due to metal fatigue. Repeated cabin pressurisation cycles cracked the airframe at stress points \u2014 famously the corners of its window openings \u2014 causing catastrophic mid-air disintegration.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"What did the Comet teach engineers about metal fatigue?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The Comet disasters taught the aviation world how repeated pressurisation cycles fatigue an airframe. Investigators traced the failures to cracks spreading from sharp window corners, leading to rounded windows, better fatigue testing and design standards that make every modern airliner safer.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"When did the de Havilland Comet enter service?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"The Comet 1 entered service with BOAC on 2 May 1952, the first commercial jet airliner. It was grounded after the 1954 crashes and later returned in a redesigned, much-strengthened form as the Comet 4.\"}},{\"@type\":\"Question\",\"name\":\"Why do aircraft windows have rounded corners?\",\"acceptedAnswer\":{\"@type\":\"Answer\",\"text\":\"Because of the Comet. Its early near-square windows concentrated stress at the corners, where fatigue cracks began and led to fatal break-ups. Rounding the corners spreads the stress, and every pressurised aircraft since has used rounded windows as a direct result.\"}}]}<\/script><!-- \/mf-faq -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The de Havilland Comet was the most beautiful airliner ever built. It was also the most deadly \u2014 and its failures saved more lives than any single aircraft in history. We&#8217;ve written about the Comet before \u2014 see our earlier piece on its legacy. This article focuses on the investigation that changed aviation forever. When [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":1668573,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"editor_notices":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[665,666],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1668616","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aviation-world","category-history-and-legends"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>De Havilland Comet: How Square Windows Killed the First Jet Airliner | MiGFlug<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The de Havilland Comet was the world&#039;s first jet airliner \u2014 and its crashes from metal fatigue rewrote aviation safety forever. The investigation that changed everything.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/de-havilland-comet-metal-fatigue-square-windows-investigation-1954\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"De Havilland Comet: How Square Windows Killed the First Jet Airliner | MiGFlug\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The de Havilland Comet was the world&#039;s first jet airliner \u2014 and its crashes from metal fatigue rewrote aviation safety forever. The investigation that changed everything.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/de-havilland-comet-metal-fatigue-square-windows-investigation-1954\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Afterburner - MiGFlug&#039;s Magazine\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MiGFlug\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-10T13:15:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-25T11:33:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/de-havilland-comet-boac-first-jet-airliner.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1028\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"687\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Connor Kerr\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@migflug\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@migflug\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Connor Kerr\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/de-havilland-comet-metal-fatigue-square-windows-investigation-1954\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/de-havilland-comet-metal-fatigue-square-windows-investigation-1954\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Connor Kerr\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bc7f2d09b1d7111c45fdb1335b8f2cf9\"},\"headline\":\"The de Havilland Comet: The Beautiful Jet That Taught Us How Aircraft Break\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-10T13:15:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-25T11:33:05+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/de-havilland-comet-metal-fatigue-square-windows-investigation-1954\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1069,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/de-havilland-comet-metal-fatigue-square-windows-investigation-1954\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/jetflights\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/06\\/de-havilland-comet-boac-first-jet-airliner.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Aviation World\",\"History &amp; Legends\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/de-havilland-comet-metal-fatigue-square-windows-investigation-1954\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/de-havilland-comet-metal-fatigue-square-windows-investigation-1954\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/de-havilland-comet-metal-fatigue-square-windows-investigation-1954\\\/\",\"name\":\"De Havilland Comet: How Square Windows Killed the First Jet Airliner | MiGFlug\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/de-havilland-comet-metal-fatigue-square-windows-investigation-1954\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/de-havilland-comet-metal-fatigue-square-windows-investigation-1954\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/jetflights\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/06\\/de-havilland-comet-boac-first-jet-airliner.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-10T13:15:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-25T11:33:05+00:00\",\"description\":\"The de Havilland Comet was the world's first jet airliner \u2014 and its crashes from metal fatigue rewrote aviation safety forever. The investigation that changed everything.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/de-havilland-comet-metal-fatigue-square-windows-investigation-1954\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/de-havilland-comet-metal-fatigue-square-windows-investigation-1954\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/de-havilland-comet-metal-fatigue-square-windows-investigation-1954\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/jetflights\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/06\\/de-havilland-comet-boac-first-jet-airliner.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/jetflights\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/06\\/de-havilland-comet-boac-first-jet-airliner.jpg\",\"width\":1028,\"height\":687,\"caption\":\"De Havilland Comet in BOAC livery \u2014 the world's first jet airliner\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/de-havilland-comet-metal-fatigue-square-windows-investigation-1954\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Startseite\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The de Havilland Comet: The Beautiful Jet That Taught Us How Aircraft Break\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/\",\"name\":\"Afterburner - MiGFlug's Magazine\",\"description\":\"for those interested in flying military jets and aviation related  topics\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"MiGFlug GmbH\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\/\\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\\/cb:0e0_.b970\\/w:897\\/h:278\\/q:mauto\\/ig:avif\\/https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/jetflights\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/06\\/MIGFLUG_LOGO-no-background.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\/\\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\\/cb:0e0_.b970\\/w:897\\/h:278\\/q:mauto\\/ig:avif\\/https:\\/\\/migflug.com\\/jetflights\\/wp-content\\/uploads\\/sites\\/4\\/2026\\/06\\/MIGFLUG_LOGO-no-background.png\",\"width\":897,\"height\":278,\"caption\":\"MiGFlug GmbH\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/MiGFlug\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/migflug\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.instagram.com\\\/migflug\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.youtube.com\\\/user\\\/MiGFlug\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.linkedin.com\\\/company\\\/migflug.com\\\/\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.pinterest.ch\\\/migflug\\\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/bc7f2d09b1d7111c45fdb1335b8f2cf9\",\"name\":\"Connor Kerr\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ed6d7365eb237a1c91b800bf8dfeb14b8e30a3712ed7fec9e18a70088fc423a9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ed6d7365eb237a1c91b800bf8dfeb14b8e30a3712ed7fec9e18a70088fc423a9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/ed6d7365eb237a1c91b800bf8dfeb14b8e30a3712ed7fec9e18a70088fc423a9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Connor Kerr\"},\"description\":\"Connor Kerr writes MiGFlug\u2019s long-form features \u2014 aviation history, how-it-works explainers and the stories behind the headlines.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/migflug.com\\\/jetflights\\\/author\\\/connorkerr\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"De Havilland Comet: How Square Windows Killed the First Jet Airliner | MiGFlug","description":"The de Havilland Comet was the world's first jet airliner \u2014 and its crashes from metal fatigue rewrote aviation safety forever. The investigation that changed everything.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/de-havilland-comet-metal-fatigue-square-windows-investigation-1954\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"De Havilland Comet: How Square Windows Killed the First Jet Airliner | MiGFlug","og_description":"The de Havilland Comet was the world's first jet airliner \u2014 and its crashes from metal fatigue rewrote aviation safety forever. The investigation that changed everything.","og_url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/de-havilland-comet-metal-fatigue-square-windows-investigation-1954\/","og_site_name":"Afterburner - MiGFlug's Magazine","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MiGFlug\/","article_published_time":"2026-06-10T13:15:16+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-06-25T11:33:05+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1028,"height":687,"url":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/de-havilland-comet-boac-first-jet-airliner.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Connor Kerr","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@migflug","twitter_site":"@migflug","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Connor Kerr","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/de-havilland-comet-metal-fatigue-square-windows-investigation-1954\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/de-havilland-comet-metal-fatigue-square-windows-investigation-1954\/"},"author":{"name":"Connor Kerr","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#\/schema\/person\/bc7f2d09b1d7111c45fdb1335b8f2cf9"},"headline":"The de Havilland Comet: The Beautiful Jet That Taught Us How Aircraft Break","datePublished":"2026-06-10T13:15:16+00:00","dateModified":"2026-06-25T11:33:05+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/de-havilland-comet-metal-fatigue-square-windows-investigation-1954\/"},"wordCount":1069,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/de-havilland-comet-metal-fatigue-square-windows-investigation-1954\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/de-havilland-comet-boac-first-jet-airliner.jpg","articleSection":["Aviation World","History &amp; Legends"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/de-havilland-comet-metal-fatigue-square-windows-investigation-1954\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/de-havilland-comet-metal-fatigue-square-windows-investigation-1954\/","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/de-havilland-comet-metal-fatigue-square-windows-investigation-1954\/","name":"De Havilland Comet: How Square Windows Killed the First Jet Airliner | MiGFlug","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/de-havilland-comet-metal-fatigue-square-windows-investigation-1954\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/de-havilland-comet-metal-fatigue-square-windows-investigation-1954\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/de-havilland-comet-boac-first-jet-airliner.jpg","datePublished":"2026-06-10T13:15:16+00:00","dateModified":"2026-06-25T11:33:05+00:00","description":"The de Havilland Comet was the world's first jet airliner \u2014 and its crashes from metal fatigue rewrote aviation safety forever. The investigation that changed everything.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/de-havilland-comet-metal-fatigue-square-windows-investigation-1954\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/de-havilland-comet-metal-fatigue-square-windows-investigation-1954\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/de-havilland-comet-metal-fatigue-square-windows-investigation-1954\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/de-havilland-comet-boac-first-jet-airliner.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/de-havilland-comet-boac-first-jet-airliner.jpg","width":1028,"height":687,"caption":"De Havilland Comet in BOAC livery \u2014 the world's first jet airliner"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/de-havilland-comet-metal-fatigue-square-windows-investigation-1954\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Startseite","item":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The de Havilland Comet: The Beautiful Jet That Taught Us How Aircraft Break"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#website","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/","name":"Afterburner - MiGFlug's Magazine","description":"for those interested in flying military jets and aviation related  topics","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#organization","name":"MiGFlug GmbH","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:897\/h:278\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/MIGFLUG_LOGO-no-background.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/ml5psubhxdln.i.optimole.com\/cb:0e0_.b970\/w:897\/h:278\/q:mauto\/ig:avif\/https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2026\/06\/MIGFLUG_LOGO-no-background.png","width":897,"height":278,"caption":"MiGFlug GmbH"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/MiGFlug\/","https:\/\/x.com\/migflug","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/migflug\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/MiGFlug","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/migflug.com\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.ch\/migflug\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/#\/schema\/person\/bc7f2d09b1d7111c45fdb1335b8f2cf9","name":"Connor Kerr","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ed6d7365eb237a1c91b800bf8dfeb14b8e30a3712ed7fec9e18a70088fc423a9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ed6d7365eb237a1c91b800bf8dfeb14b8e30a3712ed7fec9e18a70088fc423a9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ed6d7365eb237a1c91b800bf8dfeb14b8e30a3712ed7fec9e18a70088fc423a9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Connor Kerr"},"description":"Connor Kerr writes MiGFlug\u2019s long-form features \u2014 aviation history, how-it-works explainers and the stories behind the headlines.","url":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/author\/connorkerr\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1668616","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1668616"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1668616\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2681775,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1668616\/revisions\/2681775"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1668573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1668616"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1668616"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/migflug.com\/jetflights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1668616"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}