Test Flying Memorial
"...and everywhere the
blue sky belongs to them
and is their appointed rest
and their native country"
- Samuel Taylor Coleridge
| Date | 21/10/1947 |
|---|---|
| Casualties | Fg Off W.A. Harvey, MAEE Felixstowe P; LAC D.R. Wright; AC A.R. Gurdin; LAC J.J. Ryan |
| Aircraft | Short Sunderland Mk V DV976 |
| Took off from | Felixstowe, Suffolk |
| Purpose of flight | Strain gauge experimental flight |
| Incident location | Off Southend, Essex |
| Incident details | Starboard inner engine caught fire which spread to adjacent structure before engine broke away. Pilot attempted ditching at high speed on glass-calm sea but on alighting aircraft overturned and sank (six crew survived and were rescued) |