IATA B11ICAO BA11

British Aerospace (BAC) One Eleven

British Aerospace

TravelerPulse profile

Britain's pioneering short-haul rear-engined jet airliner.

First flight

1963

Category

Narrow-body jet

Seating

89–119 passengers depending on variant

Range

2,744 km

Engines

Two rear-mounted Rolls-Royce Spey turbofan engines

Status

Retired

The British Aerospace (BAC) One-Eleven is a British short-range, narrow-body twin-jet airliner developed by the British Aircraft Corporation in the early 1960s. Designed to serve domestic and short-haul European routes, it featured a rear-mounted twin-engine configuration and a T-tail, making it one of the pioneering aircraft of this layout alongside the Douglas DC-9 and Boeing 737. The One-Eleven entered service with British United Airways in 1965 and found considerable commercial success, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It was produced in several variants, with the Series 200, 300, 400, 475, and 500 being the most notable, the latter featuring a stretched fuselage for increased passenger capacity. Production in the United Kingdom ended in 1989, though licensed production continued in Romania under ROMBAC. The aircraft has been largely retired from commercial service, though a small number remained in operation into the 2000s. Its legacy influenced subsequent short-haul jet design philosophies.

Notable operators

Major operators included British United Airways, BEA, American Airlines, Braniff International, and Tarom of Romania.

Notable facts

›The prototype BAC One-Eleven suffered a fatal deep stall accident during testing in October 1963, killing all seven crew on board.
›American Airlines was a major early customer, operating a large fleet on domestic US routes.
›Romania's ROMBAC produced a licensed version, the ROMBAC 1-11, extending the type's production life into the late 1980s.
›The One-Eleven's T-tail design made it susceptible to the 'deep stall' phenomenon, leading to redesigned stick-pusher systems.
›A total of approximately 244 aircraft were built across British and Romanian production lines.