Hastings TG613

JohnC · Administrator

Hastings TG613

JohnC · Administrator

The aircraft accident report shows very little detail for such an incident coupled with the rescue [Accident card source RAF Museum]

Hastings TG613 DSC_6568.JPG Hastings TG613 DSC_6569.JPG

JohnC · Administrator

3rd July 2010

Patrick Duncan wrote on 30th June 2010

I was an Air/Sig on 47 Sqn in the briefing room at Lyneham about to depart on the 'Fayid Slip' on 20th July 1953. I recall a FltSgt (?) Nav arriving in a rush having been called out from his married quarter to take over from the original Nav who had gone sick. He had just acquired the necessary Air Almanacs to cover UK to Changi, quite a large bundle tied up with lashing tape.

From my log book I see we departed for Luqa at 1515hrs, obviously with the usual delay! We returned to Luqa from Fayid on 23rdJuly and I have memories of the NCO crew of 613 arriving in the Transit Mess, flying suits, hands and faces glowing bright orange from the fluorescine dye marker used in the life jackets. We had quite a party, there was always a large number of slip crews at Luqa whilst the slip service was operating. I said to the Nav that he need not have bothered to acquire all the Air Almanacs after all! He said his most vivid memory was of climbing into the dinghy to be confronted by the AirCmdr with his hat on and the 'scrambled Egg' on the peak glinting in the bright sunshine!

In addition to the 'gulping' problem, at the time the Hastings engines were also prone to 'coring' but this could be overcome by feathering the affected donk for a short time then restarting it. 613 lost oil pressure and temps off the clock, it would have resulted in fire if the engines were not feathered. The pilot did a great job and fully deserved the AFC.

JohnC · Administrator

Courtesy of John Courtney

Hello John
I was stationed at RAF IDRIS (Castel Benito) during 1952=54 as an aircraft electrician and serviced this aircraft. The crew complained that the tea urn was not working. I believe I changed the circuit breaker. I also believe the circuit also includes the oil dilution system which thins the engine oil at start up. We were led to believe that this could have been the reason the engines seized and sheared the propellers. The log book should confirm what action was taken to fix the problem. I hope you find this of some interest.
Regards John Courtney

JohnC · Administrator

SPLASHDOWN IN MEDITERANEAN OF HASTINGS TG613

ACCOUNT BY SQ/LDR F A PLINSTON DFC

In July 1953, I was serving as a Personnel Staff Officer at Headquarters Transport Command, at RAF Station Uphaven. I was detailed to undertake an inspection tour, headed by Air Commodore Moreshead; Senior Technical Officer of Transport Command, of the staging posts on the route from England to Singapore. At this time, the RAF was carrying out all movements of personnel overseas by air, so Transport Command was responsible for the establishment of officers and airmen to refuel and for servicing of all aircraft passing through. Most of which were Transport Command aircraft, carrying airmen to and from overseas postings.

The first leg of our journey from Lyneham to Castel Benito, a few miles south of Tripoli, was without incident. We flew around Paris and had a distant view of the Eiffel Tower. We arrived at Castel Benito about midday and carried out inspection duties in the afternoon.

Next morning, we took off at 7am for Cyprus, our next inspection. About an hour later we noticed that one engine was had stopped, and the propeller had been feathered. This did not cause too much alarm, as the Hastings flew quite well on three engines. However, the feathering of the next propeller was followed soon after by the stopping of the third engine and we all knew wed soon be landing.

I had been told by someone who had experienced a landing at sea that on touching down everything went dark and it felt as if the aircraft was diving to the bottom. He was quite right. However, the aircraft bobbed up to the surface very soon and when the door was opened, the sea surface was about level with the door sill. The first thing to do was to launch the dinghy that was in the cabin with us. It operated with no trouble outside the door. We all embarked in the one dinghy and cast adrift from the fuselage. Nobody had been injured and we were all present.

Once the aircraft had sunk, after about two minutes, we looked around and saw the wing about 50 yards behind us.

The wing of the Hastings is set in the bottom of the fuselage, and four engines hang below the wing. So on contact, the engines hit the water first and this tears the wing off the fuselage. The wing contains a large dinghy on each side, and these had automatically inflated but were still attached to the wing. Another officer and I volunteered to swim over, collect the two dinghies and bring them back and make life more comfortable. Being summer, the water was warm, and the Mediterranean is salty, so it is buoyant. We got into the dinghies, fastened them together and paddled them back.

With the three dinghies we had lots of space. With little wind and a relatively calm sea, we could only sit and wait for rescue, avoiding too much sunburn as best we could.

Later that afternoon, we heard an aircraft and saw an American flying boat, which came over and circled us. He reported back to his base. He then landed and taxied over to us. We then learnt that a ship was on its way to pick us up. The flying boat then took us all on board. He could not take off as the swell was too high and he was well overweight. He told us that they had first seen the dye marker trail and had followed it for some miles to find us.

Halfway through the night, the destroyer arrived and we were all taken aboard, given a cup of tea, and then bedded down for the rest of the night. The ship stood by for the rest of the night, and we watched the flying boat take off in the morning.

The destroyer took us to Malta where we were bedded down for the next night, and next morning a Hastings aircraft arrived to take us back to Lyneham. After it was refuelled, we boarded the aircraft and took off. Ten minutes later, one engine was feathered and we returned to Malta. However, it was only a minor fault and we got back to Lyneham that day.

Forwarded to me by Carol Bergquist