Fifty-six years ago this month the United States Civil Aeronautics Board began investigating the events behind the greatest ocean rescue operation in aviation history.
It involved the last flying-boat to leave the Co Limerick port of Foynes after more than a decade of successful operations.
On the Monday afternoon of October l3th, l947, a four-engined Boeing charter plane with 69 people on board left Foynes. Its immediate destination was Gander Lake, Newfoundland, the usual terminal en route to the United States. But the Bermuda Sky Queen was forced to come down in mid-Atlantic after running out of fuel. The mainly inexperienced crew of the 42-ton flying boat had not taken into account the full force of the Atlantic head-winds. In addition, the plane's load was 5,000 lbs over her maximum weight - the equivalent of 25 people plus their baggage.
Experienced staff at Foynes had already expressed surprise at the length of the passenger list. BOAC and PanAm, using similar aircraft, never carried more than 35 passengers and sometimes fewer, depending on the weather and the fuel load required. The 69 aboard the Bermuda Sky Queen were almost double the greatest number of people ever carried on a flying boat across the Atlantic. They included 20 men, 30 women and 12 children, including two babies-in-arms, as well as the crew of seven.
In the early hours of darkness the following morning, they found themselves stranded in mid-Atlantic, 960 miles from Foynes, without the slightest hope of reaching the east or west coast. They had flown 960 miles from the Co Limerick port.
The flying boat's skipper, Capt Charlie Martin, a wartime US Navy pilot, realising that Gander was out of reach and there was no way of going back to Foynes, had sent out a distress message. His supply of petrol was running low and he decided to set down on the ocean close to the weather ship Charlie. An Air Canada Skymaster heading for Prestwick picked up the distress message and the pilot, Capt Steve Albulet relayed the message. It was also picked up by another aircraft, by the Irish radio station at Valencia and most important of all, by Capt Paul Cronk of the US coastguard cutter George M. Bibb. When he was told that there were 69 persons on board, he could not believe it. The ensuing rescue operation lasted for 48 hours with not a single life lost.
On that Sunday afternoon at Foynes I had boarded the Bermuda Sky Queen - formerly the PanAm Capetown Clipper - to interview Capt Martin, for this was to be the last flying-boat to leave Foynes after a decade of aviation history. It was a charter flight owned by American International Airways and most of the passengers were British, including oil company representatives returning to the Caribbean with their families. The Americans included the crew of an oil tanker recently delivered to Britain and four young UN secretaries returning to headquarters in New York.
I played cards in the beautifully furnished flight lounge with some of the crew before taking my leave of them some hours later. The overcrowding of the Bermuda Sky Queen was partly attributable to the fact that shipping passages between Europe and the United States were totally booked out with the great rush of emigrants and GI brides. What few airline seats were available were booked out for months because the Skymaster aircraft, which had then begun to trickle through Shannon, carried only 40 passengers.
The US Civil Aviation Board held an investigation into the Bermuda Sky Queen affair. The charter company was closed down and the owners charged with engaging in foreign transport of passengers without authorisation.
Investigators found that the flight engineer had manuals which showed that on the power settings which he recommended to the pilot, it would have been impossible to reach Gander Lake. The pilot and navigator were found to have based their air speed on the flight plan of a previous crossing. No blame was laid on the Shannon meteorological department.
Capt Martin had his pilot's license restored from l949 because of his gallant work in the rescue operation. He then continued to work as a full pilot for many years with a leading US carrier but never flew into Shannon again. Capt Cronk and his crew were decorated for their work and the passengers were given a heroes, welcome when they arrived in Boston on the George M. Bibb.
Before leaving the scene, the cutter shelled the flying-boat so that it would not be a danger to navigation.