Serious questions were raised following the strange mid-air failure of both engines on a PBY amphibian aircraft just miles off the Jamaican coast. The crash, which occurred despite the plane carrying sufficient fuel and receiving recent maintenance, has left aviation experts puzzled. As survivors recount their harrowing ordeal, authorities are launching a full investigation to uncover what caused the highly unusual and near-catastrophic malfunction.
 

Published Tuesday, April 11, 1950

Plane sinks near Jamaica

All aboard saved 
Adrift on life raft 16 hours
Spotted by US ships and planes

United States sea and air forces converging close south of Jamaica combined to snatch four persons from peril yesterday, after they had been adrift for 16 hours on a life raft.

The PBY amphibian aircraft in which they had been flying to Jamaica crash-landed about 40 miles south of Kingston at approximately 3:30 Sunday afternoon.

Rescued were Captain H. W. Banting; A. B. Brennan, CIA’s general engineer; and Mrs Brennan. They were brought to Kingston by the US destroyer Brownson.

They were picked up at 10:30 yesterday morning after an all-night search involving four US destroyers and spotting planes from Guantánamo, Cuba, and San Juan, Puerto Rico, along with the US Coast Guard in Florida and the Kingston-based salvage steamer Rescue.

Looking cheerful and none the worse for their harrowing experience, the survivors smiled and waved at persons on the dock as the destroyer warped in at No. 3 pier a few minutes before three o’clock.

After overhauling

The plane, a converted war surplus PBY marked VP-BAO, was on its way to Kingston on a test-delivery flight, following routine overhauling in Miami.

Leaving Miami Sunday morning, the aircraft flew steadily on both engines, crossing the Jamaican latitude in the afternoon in preparation for turning into the north wind to land at Palisadoes.

Shortly afterward, both engines failed, and the plane was manoeuvred for a crash landing, with Brennan acting as flight engineer. The aircraft alighted on rough water, with waves reaching up to 30 feet.

Their position, about 15 miles off Portland Point, was immediately radioed and picked up at Caribbean listening posts. The plane remained afloat for about 2½ hours before slowly sinking.

Two life rafts were launched, but one was punctured almost immediately. The transfer to the intact raft was made under hazardous conditions because of heavy seas. The survivors watched the aircraft disappear beneath the waves.

A 16-hour ordeal then began, during which the raft drifted many miles from the original radioed position.

Meanwhile, the Merritt-Chapman & Lindsay salvage steamer Rescue was informed and sailed from Kingston in the afternoon to join the US and other vessels already alerted for the rescue operation.

Radar 
Employing radar and searchlights, ships and planes searched the sea throughout the night. Around 8 a.m. yesterday, those on the raft spotted a US naval plane swoop in and circle overhead. They knew then they had been found.

At 10:30 a.m., the US destroyer Roan reached the scene and rescued the drifters. They were later transferred to the USS Brownson, which brought them into port.

Mrs Brennan sustained slight injuries to her foot during the transfer. The Brownson sailed again shortly afterward for its base in Guantánamo.

Coming ashore at 3 p.m., the survivors praised the “courtesy and kindness” shown to them by the naval officers and crew. Captain Banting and Mr Brennan added: “These are the only people I would like to be shipwrecked with.”

At the pier to meet the rescued were Mrs O’Flannigan, Mr and Mrs L. D. Jennings, Miss Kathleen O’Flannigan, Mr H. J. Ashwell, and Mr D. Lynch, representing Messrs R. S. Gamble and Sons, agents for Caribbean International Airways.

Mr Gardner of Mandeville, who operates a flying school, assisted in the search on Sunday afternoon in one of his Cessna aircrafts.

An Englishman, Captain Banting has been with Caribbean International Airways for about two years and has flown the company’s PBY planes on regular flights between Kingston, the Cayman Islands, and Tampa, Florida.

Brennan, an American, joined the company last year.

In a statement to The Gleaner yesterday, Wing Commander Owen Roberts, managing director of the company, said it was not yet possible to determine what technical failure led to the simultaneous stoppage of both engines.

“It is an extremely rare occurrence,” he said, “almost without precedent — especially, in this case, where the aircraft carried nine hours’ worth of fuel.”

“However, the fact that under such difficult circumstances the aircraft was able to land safely, transmit a radio message, and allow time for disembarkation into rafts, demonstrates the extra safety factor gained by operating flying boats on over-water flights.”

He added, “The company intends to carry out an exhaustive investigation into the possible causes of the mishap. But, as this type of aircraft has given extremely reliable service for many years and is in current use by many airlines today, we will continue to place complete confidence in our PBY aircraft.”

The crash landing will be investigated by the Civil Aviation Department.

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