[BITList] Heathrow heroine

[John Feltham]

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Harrison,  (Barbara) Jane  (1945-1968), air steward, was born on 24 May 1945 at 2 Kingsdale Crescent, Bradford, Yorkshire, the younger daughter of Alan Frederic Harrison (1911-1996), then a policeman and later a driving examiner, and Lena Veronica, nee Adlard (1914-1955). Jane, as she was known to her family, was educated at Greystones School, Bradford, and, after her family's move to the east coast, at Newby county primary school and Scarborough Girls' High School. After a term at the high school, Doncaster, to where her father had moved, Jane took her first job as a clerk at Martin's Bank, Doncaster, in spring 1962. After several years she left to work as a children's nanny, first in Switzerland and then in San Francisco. Her decision to work in Switzerland had been prompted in part by her growing interest in becoming an air steward, a post that at the time required proficiency in a foreign language. While in California she applied for a position with the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) and was accepted in May 1966; she moved to a flat she shared with fellow BOAC employees at 36 Emperor's Gate, Kensington, London.

On 8 April 1968 Harrison was assigned to flight 712 from Heathrow to Sydney, Australia, via Zurich, Tel Aviv, Tehran, Bombay, Singapore, and Perth. The plane, a four-engine Boeing 707, carried 115 passengers and 11 crew. About one minute after take-off an explosion occurred in the number 2 engine on the port side. A fire broke out in the engine which then spread along the wing as the plane continued to climb to 3000 feet. The flight's captain, Charles Taylor, was given clearance to make an emergency landing on a short runway that ran across the airport. As the plane turned over Egham, Surrey, the number 2 engine fell from the wing, landing in a gravel pit in the village of Thorp. Three and a half minutes after take-off the plane landed and the evacuation began on the starboard side as the fire spread underneath the fuselage, causing further explosions. Jane Harrison was one of two stewards at the rear of the plane. Here the fire was at its most intense and the cabin rapidly filled with smoke. Evacuation from this section of the plane was made more difficult when the escape chute became twisted. This required Harrison's fellow steward to go out of the aircraft to correct the problem, leaving Harrison to direct passengers alone. After five passengers had escaped, the chute caught fire and was destroyed. Harrison continued to urge passengers to jump from the rear starboard exit and on several occasions pushed individuals from the plane. Having cleared their respective sections, and under the impression that the evacuation had been completed, the BOAC crew members now made their exits. However, survivors on the ground report seeing Harrison return into the fuselage in what was clearly an attempt to rescue four remaining passengers, including an eight-year-old girl and an elderly disabled woman. All five died in the fire. Jane Harrison's funeral service took place at St George's Roman Catholic Church, York (the home of her sister), and she was buried in the city's Fulford cemetery.

On 23 April 1968 John Boyd-Carpenter, MP for Kingston upon Thames and a former minister of transport and civil aviation, wrote to Tony Crosland, president of the Board of Trade, to press for Harrison's actions to be recognized. Boyd-Carpenter spoke of her 'very great courage and self-sacrifice' and reiterated reports (confirmed by fire officers who later entered the fuselage) that Harrison's last action had been an attempt to rescue the four passengers who remained trapped in the plane  (Ottaway, 131). With the completion of the Board of Trade's investigation into the accident in April 1969, Crosland approved the recommendation that Harrison be awarded a posthumous George Cross, referring to her conduct as a 'lonely and courageous action' that was evidence of a 'devotion to duty' worthy of the highest civilian award for gallantry  (ibid., 139). The award of the George Cross was made public on 8 August 1969 and is, to date, the fourth to a female recipient, and the only award to a woman in peace time. Jane Harrison's actions are commemorated in memorial windows at St George's Chapel, Heathrow (1970), and Bradford city hall (2000), a plaque at St Laurence's Church, Scalby, Yorkshire, and an eponymous prize in the field of aviation medicine. In 2005 she was one of several recipients of the Victoria and George crosses featured in a poster series commissioned and displayed by London Underground under the heading 'Ordinary people, extraordinary deeds'. Harrison's George Cross is now at the British Airways Museum, Hounslow, as part of an exhibition dedicated to her life.

Philip Carter 

Sources  S. Ottaway, Fire over Heathrow: the tragedy of flight 712 (2008) + M. Hebblethwaite, One step further, 11 vols. (2005-6), vol. 5 + UK Board of Trade, civil accident report, 1969, BW/C/0203 + The Times (8 Aug 1969); (9 Aug 1969) + b. cert.
Archives British Airways Museum, Heathrow Airport, Hounslow, Middlesex
Likenesses  photograph, 1968, PA Photos, London · photograph, British Airways Museum, Hownslow, Middlesex, Heathrow Airport [see illus.] · photographs, repro. in Ottaway, Heathrow · photographs, repro. in Hebblethwaite, One step further
Wealth at death  £683: administration, 10 May 1968, CGPLA Eng. & Wales