It's been described as Manchester’s forgotten air disaster.

Forty eight years ago, on July 3, 1970, a Dan-Air Comet jet from Manchester to Barcelona crashed in the mountains of northern Spain, killing all 105 holidaymakers and seven crew on board.

Most of the victims were from Greater Manchester and Lancashire.

Flight DA1903 took off from Manchester at 5pm UK time.

Onboard were holidaymakers, several families, children as young as six, and four members of the Britannia Wanderers amateur football team from Padiham in Lancashire.

Air traffic control delays over Paris meant the flight, under the control of pilot Captain Alexander Neal, 48, took a different route than usual.

Just under two hours in, it began its descent into Barcelona.

The plane was directed towards a beacon at Sabadell and mistakenly reported passing it.

In a tragic coincidence, another plane overflew the beacon at the same time, leading air traffic controllers to believe it had been passed by the Dan Air flight.

It was to prove to be a deadly mix-up.

The controller cleared the plane to descend to 2,800ft but at about 6.05pm local time the aircraft struck beech trees on the north-east slopes of the Les Angudes peak in the Montseny mountains, about 12 miles north west of Barcelona.

Because the flight was 32 miles north of where it was supposed to have been, confusion surrounded the location of the wreckage and it wasn’t until the next day the crash site was found.

The victims were buried in a mass grave in the nearby village of Arbucias on July 6, 1970.

Spanish authorities insisted the remains be buried within 48 hours for ‘hygiene reasons’, meaning families could not attend.

Memorial services attended by thousands were later held across Greater Manchester and Lancashire.

Douglas Gill, of Shaw, Oldham, should have been on the plane with his partner and young son, but cancelled after hurting his wrist at work.

But his brother George – just 18 at the time – and George’s girlfriend Norma Smith, 17, both from Fallowfield, were on board.

Speaking on the 40th anniversary of the crash Mr Gill told the M.E.N.: “If you mention the crash to people now many know nothing about it – it’s like the forgotten Manchester disaster.

“Whole families were on the plane, including my brother and his girlfriend.

“We wanted to bring their bodies back to Southern Cemetery, but the Spanish authorities had already buried them, so it was a double blow.

“Every time I go on a plane I think about them. Time has taken away some of the pain, but it never goes away.”

The Spanish Air Ministry report published in November 1970 said it was impossible to pinpoint blame, but the aircraft was off-course owing to navigation errors made by the crew.