Catalina flying boat crash in Plymouth Sound (BBC)

BBC news report on Catalina flying boat crash in Plymouth Sound.
Now sure what year exactly, though has to be between 1982-7.
Off air recording made onto Philips Video 2000 format tape, hence extremely dodgy playback (compared to VHS) when copied to DVD after c.23-27 years (in 2010, and now finally uploaded in 2017) - the recorder still played back, even if some tapes have deteriorated a bit. Also despite being recorded in colour, I couldn’t get the tape to output in anything than black and white!

[@michaelfletcher1224]

I used to work for Robert Franks and got to fly in this plane several times after this crash. The plane was so cool.

[@jcc8078]

I worked for Crazy Bob also, you're lucky to be alive.

[@commentatron]

@@jcc8078 You're thinking of his nephew's son, on his mother's side, Billy.

[@checkcheck1579]

@@commentatron call your mom!

[@commentatron]

@@checkcheck1579 You're thinking of someone who's mom is still alive.

[@beamboy07]

same one? cool

[@beamboy07]

Thanks for archiving things such as this

[@garethsprack1234]

I built (with others) lifeboat 44-010 seen in the clip.

[@None-zc5vg]

They were obsolete before WW2 but the U.S. Navy wouldn't replace the design with larger, modern and more expensive types like the 4-engined 'Coronado' (built instead as a freighter) or the Boeing PBB 'Sea Ranger' (which would have used facilities needed for the 'B-29' bomber).

[@matwithahat1200]

Thats awesome! Haha

[@rickdavis3593]

Thank you for your craftsmanship...I was a USCG boat coxswain 44390

[@BMcD79959]

Approach speed was too fast, was he buzzing or landing. I think buzzing and grandstanding, got too low and the water grabbed him.

[@chrisb9960]

Coming in hot! ✈️

[@tedshredz58]

Definitely. Too crowded for what he did. Left himself with no plan "B".

[@givenfirstnamefamilyfirstn3935]

Give us your performance calculations please.

[@niccadoodles]

One Catalina flying boat for sale. Minimum wear and tear.

[@robkunkel8833]

People who keep those great planes flying deserve our thanks. A mishap and mishaps happen. 🙏❤️

[@bahamasteveboatcharter5455]

I remember this incident at the time I heard from some friends in the warbird community it was a power struggle in the cockpit. Never good when one pilot wants to go up and the other wants to go down.

[@lesterbuckman5493]

Yeah that would do it. There can only be one chief in the kitchen, recipe for disaster otherwise

[@beamboy07]

so that was the cause of the accident? or another

[@markchisholm2657]

I watched this happen. I was on the water with some friends in kayaks which I think was at the beginning of the film. One of us found a beer can that had been flung from the aircraft.

[@beamboy07]

my grandparents saw it

[@michaelfletcher1224]

Bob liked to drink. Wouldn’t surprise me.

[@ticklemeandillhurtyou5800]

I wish they still made those planes

[@SwindlerJeff]

That would be epic

[@valobrien9596]

Yeah, me too, it's one of my favourite airplanes. Last one was built in the '50's, long time ago. I hope that they managed to repair this one.

[@carsonc1272]

I'm not an expert on float plane landing but it looks to me like he came in hot, didn't bleed off speed and didn't seem to reduce power much if any. All contributing factors to the bad hop that started the crash sequence.

[@erikasells7504]

About 20 kts faster than he should’ve been

[@davidgill2592]

My father, also a Plymothian, was in the RAF at the start of the war and lucky enough to be stationed here in his home town on Sunderland flying boats until the Aussies were moved into the base at Mountbatten. He ended up in Abbotsinch near Glasgow for a period until being posted to Mombasa, Kenya on Catalinas, so I had a personal interest in seeing the two of these aircraft arrive here. The first one arrived, making an approach over the Cattewater via Jennycliff, but flew all the way across Plymouth Sound without landing. I thought he was too high and fast, but he could have also have been gauging the wind, which was slightly offshore. (At this period I was flying hang gliders, which made me very aware of wind conditions). However, he did a go-around and made his second approach from much further up-river, appearing around the bend at low level and bleeding off speed, with a perfect landing. The second aircraft, arriving later did a carbon-copy approach, but landed hard and fast instead of performing a go-around, veering off and removing the outer section of wing on a navigation buoy.

[@andrewmccormack3395]

I was working at Plymouth Executive Aviation back then and ended up.painting the L/H outrigger float.

[@Beobout6]

Franks is no fool. This was no accident. He was testing out the sub-marine feature of the craft. As you can sort of see the wing tip ejection feature worked perfectly which is necessary for underwater movement. He’s a genius.

[@chuckfinlay6093]

Beobout........ you really are an idiot.

[@Y55MAC]

May 31st 1986. Was on Plymouth Hoe when it happened. I was 11 years old, remember it like it was yesterday.

[@johnnyblade4351]

A Great Plane sad landing but the waters are squiffy sometimes around our seas as the Armada found Out.......... The Catalina XX

[@briankane3905]

I thought Harrison Ford was flying it

[@micsunday14]

Where is that tracking knob?

[@arcitejack]

Came in way too fast right ?

[@bruceferguson6637]

Looks like he came in a little hot . . .

[@ruthc8407]

He was coming in too hot. Going too fast to land on water.

[@kat13man]

I agree Ruth. What the heck is he doing going so fast. Also, he nearly loses it before he hit the buoy. Really reckless flying.

[@JoeBLOWFHB]

No they weren't a Cats landing speed is 75 mph excessive speed wasn't mentioned in the crash report mechanical failure of the nose gear wheel hatch due to hidden corrosion were figured as the possible cause.

[@kat13man]

@@JoeBLOWFHB I looked at other KZbin videos showing Cat's landing on water during ww2 and they appear to be going a lot slower and once they land, they cut back on the power and slow down. The nose gear wheel hatch failure was probably due to high pressure caused by excess speed. The pilot was just lucky they did not charge him for it.

[@Pfsif]

That should buff out.

[@chardtomp]

Might need some Bondo.

[@crushingvanessa3277]

It's C-FOWE, this was May 3 1986.

[@av8tor261]

Who in Canada owned it?

[@Patmofar]

@@av8tor261 If you had watched the video you would know who owned it!!!!

[@imapaine-diaz4451]

the speed was way too high for a water landing. He was grandstanding!

[@etiennedauphin]

Almost too late to do switch video format from tape to digital. Absolute horror of a storage medium.

[@julianneale6128]

Such an absolute shame. A real slap in the face for the proud owner.

[@commentatron]

More like a kick - and a bit lower.

[@michaelfletcher1224]

Fortunately, this plane was completely repaired after this and remains flying.

[@BeeSting862]

What amuses me is that the boat was sinking, and the priority of the Americans was to stick a flag in it while the Brits try to save it. ;-)

[@shannonwhitaker9630]

I thought same. Should have flown a white flag of surrender !

[@beamboy07]

ikr americans are quite careless the way they ram police cars cars and stuff ,and drive v8s as dailys

[@gazratjackson]

Man them things don't fly that fast let alone land at that speed

[@dwlopez57]

" inflatable boy" I've heard of inflatable girls, but... LOL

[@kennethgrindrod6438]

Saw that happen at the time I think she went to RAF Mountbatten for repair

[@jonathanj.7344]

I believe RAF Mountbatten was a flying boat base during the war.

[@kennethgrindrod6438]

@@jonathanj.7344 The Royal Australia AirForce were based there with the Sunderland Flying Boat,and Air Sea Rescue units

[@tommallon4052]

Who ever shot this obviously couldn't afford a potato.

[@JoeBLOWFHB]

They didn't have "high end" stuff like potato cams in 1986...the artist was drawing as fast as they could.

[@elconquistador932]

@@JoeBLOWFHB I don't know man, I'm an A/V geek and had much better equipment than this and Im talking circa mid 80's.

[@JoeBLOWFHB]

@@elconquistador932 Really, did you take it out on the ocean and expose it to salt air for months at a time? They weren't filming for our enjoyment or a Hollywood blockbuster they were filming for utility and this shit had to work 24\7\365. They didn't need better image quality they needed combat rated durability something I know your equipment didn't have or they would have used it.

[@elconquistador932]

@@JoeBLOWFHB I took it everywhere, but I agree, I now live on a sailboat in the Florida Keys, that thing would have died a horrible death within a month or two down here lmfao.

[@JoeBLOWFHB]

@@elconquistador932 Dude I wasn't actually responding to this video my original notification said "A-6 Cold Cat Ejection" and now your reply is the only notification in the list YT has been acting flaky the last few days for me but this is weird. I'm sure your equipment would have been fine to film this crash.

[@louielouiepks]

Its harder than it looks to ground loop a float plane.

[@driventoaccount3276]

I do it all the time…..on my simulator

[@DavidVerbout]

Need some tracking on this VCR.

[@CultMark]

Video 2000 had a dynamic tracking system (all automatic, nothing for the user to adjust manually), so any tape recorded on any other Video 2000 recorder would play back 'perfectly'! That was in the early-mid 1980s. Jump forward the best part of 40 years and first ask if you have a Video 2000 recorder that can still play back tapes (I do) and then that the tapes haven't deteriorated, despite having been stored appropriately. This is what i got from this tape for this recording. Of other recordings, some tapes were simply unplayable, whilst others still played back well. Some brands were better than others and the longer length tapes (up to 2 x 4 hrs, starting at 2 x 1hr) with thinner tape producing the worst results. You may not be aware that Video 2000 allowed recording on both sides of the tape, like an audio cassette, but that the tape was about the same width as VHS, thus the signal for the recording takes up just half the width of the tape compared to VHS. It was remarkable to get this to play back at all, and as it happens is, at the time of writing, the most viewed upload on this channel.

[@DavidVerbout]

@@CultMark right on, man. I'm sorry, didn't mean to make offend. I like the video.

[@CultMark]

@@DavidVerbout just thought you would appreciate a bit of detail about this recording and what it takes to get anything from a very obsolete video format. My earliest recording (not yet uploaded) is from 1982.

[@Slikx666]

Plymouth, England. A city that has lost its character over the years because people want to build ugly buildings thinking that they're great to look at. #Barcode #Vommit It has its issues but it's where I was born and still live. History shows Plymouth with a weird charm and wonderful people. Will it ever return?

[@stevenbreach2561]

Mr Hitler certainly didn't help.Howevee I see you're point.Historic European cities were rebuilt faithfully,while Plymouth got the brutalist concrete treatment

[@Slikx666]

@@stevenbreach2561 I can forgive the council for the post war rebuild. It's what's followed, the barcode, the mall, removal of the subways etc. If they could rebuild the 'Northen Gate' near the mall it would great. But given the council we've got it'll never happen.

[@kevg3320]

" History shows Plymouth with a weird charm"........ and which bit of Swilly are we specifically talking about? ;)

[@Slikx666]

@@kevg3320 Swilly may have had a bad reputation in the past but the people who lived / live there were a community and mostly stuck up for each other. What made me laugh once was a group (4) of kids near Cattedown roundabout walking along singing about how they're 'the Plymouth mafia'. I'm glad they didn't get to meet a friend of mine, he's was probably the most dangerous person in Plymouth until a year ago. They found a tumor, removed it and now he's so chilled out. But we've got Captain Jasper's in Plymouth so we're doing well.

[@brianthompson1838]

Funny the British have been doing the same thing with the Royal family for years! That's funny right there..

[@seguridadsegura2089]

It is noticeable the lack of flaps so characteristic of PBYs, for good or bad....

[@oat138]

Insane!!!

[@ricky4001cs]

Throttle stuck on AFTERBURNER??? jeez

[@aviation4life640]

Afterburners are only on jets, but not all jets

[@Deuce_and_a_half]

You two understand the concept of a joke?

[@aviation4life640]

@@Deuce_and_a_half, who said it was a joke? He might not understand what afterburner is so we are just helping him out. Nobody said it was a joke.

[@ricky4001cs]

@@Deuce_and_a_half lol, perhaps the satirical effect of ALLCAPS no longer carries much credence.....

[@Deuce_and_a_half]

@@ricky4001cs Evidently😐

[@spingebill8551]

Imagine what would happen to the crew inside if the same thing happened to one of the catalinas massive Japanese counterparts, the H6K and H8K I believe they are called, or even the British Sunderland.

[@grahammaguire404]

Luckily there was plenty of water available to extinguish any fire that may have taken hold of the stricken aircraft ( Being Sarcastic!!)

[@markblix6880]

Coming in too fast. This is not a ski. Slow down, touch the water and kill the power. Should have listened to the co-pilot and gone around.

[@rovingenglishman]

Tracking

[@catch489roblox5]

DAMMIT TERRY YIU HIT THE CURB

[@deantait8326]

Oops, too much speed or not enough. I'm not sure. But spin out, coulda been worse

[@yecyec3927]

GREAT LANDING.

[@levimeyer707]

Everyone who fly this plane in wt WiNg OvErLoAd CrAsH! Or YoU GoT A HoLe In YoUr RiGhT WiNg

[@lesterbuckman5493]

All the best with getting her back to her best. Love the old war birds

[@AccordGTR]

Lesson No. 1 do not try to slalom the buoys upon landing!

[@Channel-os4uk]

Underpowered horrors, the Catalina..

[@andynixon2820]

That's what happens when you're trying to show of . And that was an extremely busy stretch of water too .

[@JoeBLOWFHB]

And how exactly were they showing off? BTW they were invited to land on that busy waterway as part of a celebration they didn't just pop in uninvited.

[@andynixon2820]

@@JoeBLOWFHB they were coming in way too fast - that is absolutely obvious . To do that , in front of a huge audience of people is called showing of . If not he'd have come in at a reasonable speed considering how busy the area was . I can't believe you're questioning this .

[@jerrygoldstein3028]

I like how he’s all frank and matter of fact about the crash when there are two dead bodies inside literally behind him Ones the mayor FFS Probably drunk ! Today he would be in jail not on the news grinning

[@soflanut]

Wing hit sea buoy.

[@rickstills6716]

Could have saved it with a little rudder. Geez!!!

[@Zwia.]

It doesn't have a rudder 😆

[@overbank56]

Oh f***! WTH happened!?

[@m118lr]

TERRIBLE vid, so gnarly & scratchy..

[@philsmith214]

A shame the plane had a bad landing, thankfully no one was killed, the union flags were a nice touch shame one was upside down ,

[@charlesschneider3134]

05/31/86 - abpic.co.uk/pictures/view/1018941

[@hejbuy]

0:15 me in war thunder

[@nyttag7830]

Pilot is a jackazz

[@deeeeeeeench1209]

Well he's American so that goes without saying 🤣

[@Gixer750pilot]

Remember when people knew how to adjust the tracking on a vhs 📼 😂

[@CultMark]

This was NOT recorded on VHS!! Video 2000 had a dynamic tracking system (all automatic, with NOTHING for the user to adjust manually), so any tape recorded on any other Video 2000 recorder would play back 'perfectly'! That was in the early-mid 1980s. Jump forward the best part of 40 years and first ask if you have a Video 2000 recorder that can still play back tapes (I do) and then that the tapes haven't deteriorated, despite having been stored appropriately. This is what i got from this tape for this recording. Of other recordings, some tapes were simply unplayable, whilst others still played back well. Some brands were better than others and the longer length tapes (up to 2 x 4 hrs, starting at 2 x 1hr) with thinner tape producing the worst results. You may not be aware that Video 2000 allowed recording on both sides of the tape, like an audio cassette, but that the tape was about the same width as VHS, thus the signal for the recording takes up just half the width of the tape compared to VHS. It was remarkable to get this to play back at all, and as it happens is, at the time of writing, the most viewed upload on this channel. This Video 2000 tape was simply losing the recorded video signal!

[@CultMark]

Also see here on KZbin: Video History: V2000 - The format that came third in a two-horse race kzbin.info/www/bejne/iZa2q2mDpL1jZrM

[@CultMark]

This is the Philips version (the V2020 model) of the Video2000 recorder I have (the Pye 20VR20): v2000.palsite.com/v2020ovi.html To quote: "Like all V2000 VCR's this model used Dynamic Track following which meant that there was no external tracking control. The tracking was performed electronically and the video heads followed the correct path guided by the action of the piezo-electric crystals they were mounted on."

[@Gixer750pilot]

@@CultMark sorry if I touched a nerve I was just having a joke! I’m just mocking the younger generation who don’t know what video tracking is! I remember this being on the news.

[@CultMark]

@@Gixer750pilot you are now duly educated that there were other domestic video formats around with different features and ways of working other than VHS.

[@mosesmanaka8109]

Pilots usually have a problem with their big egos which l suspectvis the cause of this accident.

[@JoeBLOWFHB]

The crash report said NOTHING about ego or excessive speed it talked about hidden corrosion in the nose wheel bay and failure of the bay hatch as the probable cause. No one was held at fault because the crew followed the preventive maintenance procedures of the time.

[@mosesmanaka8109]

@@JoeBLOWFHB Air cash investigators are not trained as Psychologists thus it is understandable they wont mention the ego issue. But merely judging on his arrogant demeanor during the interview may serve as an indicator of a possible Ego problem which is not inconsistent with most pilots, or at least the pilots with whom l have dealt with over the years. The applies with racing drivers especially rally drivers, if one can tone down the big ego, less crashes will occur.

[@danbrooks7]

Why did this happen?..."Millionaire pilot"

[@patrickridgeway4203]

Pilot error. And then he tried to make excuses old European bad weather xcetera

[@dondewar5855]

I would like a hat with a PBY logo on it. Who is doing that stuff?I lost my dad in a PBY Canso in July 1955 at Vancouver RCAG Airbase! Canada’s, now Vancouver Int’l airport. Beautiful ugly duckling of the seas, oh those radials must tell stories. PBY hats?

[@FureyinHD]

Sorry to hear about your Dad though

[@rivernet62]

“Americans grandstanding”... shows British flag. Huh?

[@goalie2998]

Wheres my 90's kids. Isn't this the plane from duck tales ? Balue the bear flew ?

[@JoeBLOWFHB]

Actually the Sea Duck was a modified Conwing L-16 she had a twin boom tail.

[@mall6224]

Damn. The Good old days .For some reason im thinking show was called tailspin. But could be wrong.

[@theirishman8356]

Tracking,,,,,TRACKING .... 😂

[@CultMark]

This was NOT recorded on VHS!! Video 2000 had a dynamic tracking system (all automatic, with NOTHING for the user to adjust manually), so any tape recorded on any other Video 2000 recorder would play back 'perfectly'! That was in the early-mid 1980s. Jump forward the best part of 40 years and first ask if you have a Video 2000 recorder that can still play back tapes (I do) and then that the tapes haven't deteriorated, despite having been stored appropriately. This is what i got from this tape for this recording. Of other recordings, some tapes were simply unplayable, whilst others still played back well. Some brands were better than others and the longer length tapes (up to 2 x 4 hrs, starting at 2 x 1hr) with thinner tape producing the worst results. You may not be aware that Video 2000 allowed recording on both sides of the tape, like an audio cassette, but that the tape was about the same width as VHS, thus the signal for the recording takes up just half the width of the tape compared to VHS. It was remarkable to get this to play back at all, and as it happens is, at the time of writing, the most viewed upload on this channel. This Video 2000 tape was simply losing the recorded video signal!

[@CultMark]

This is the Philips version (the V2020 model) of the Video2000 recorder I have (the Pye 20VR20): v2000.palsite.com/v2020ovi.html To quote: "Like all V2000 VCR's this model used Dynamic Track following which meant that there was no external tracking control. The tracking was performed electronically and the video heads followed the correct path guided by the action of the piezo-electric crystals they were mounted on."

[@Lockbar]

Tracking using a potato doesn't work.

[@leifvejby8023]

If you think this is bad, you should see the stuff recorded in USA!

[@kal.50bmg32]

@@leifvejby8023 It is not only bad, but it is fucking bad.

[@leifvejby8023]

@@kal.50bmg32 This video is almost 40 years old, and you are comparing it to digitally recorded videos recorded today, which isn't fair. I know that people used to go to the moon, that we had flying car ferries, car carrying hovercrafts and supersonic passengercrafts back then, but the videos still sucked compared to what we have now. It isn't bad at all considering what was possible then. But you are right, it isn't Video 2000 quality.

[@WootTootZoot]

@@leifvejby8023 The video tape is badly wrinkled.

[@shannonwhitaker9630]

I love the Potato heads who complain about video quality. Yeah it sucks bad but who gives AF ! Atleast you got to see it. Bunch of complaining Bitchez !

[@elconquistador932]

Ok, my JVC video recorder back in the 80's would have been a much better tool for this job. My word, what kinda piece of shit recorded this video lmao.

[@CultMark]

Read my description on what it was recorded on. You have to understand that now 30-ish years later that not all makes of tapes in the video 2000 format used were of the same quality and longer tapes in the 2x4hr length were also much thinner to fit into the cassette. Then how many video recorders that are up to 40 years old (30 when this was created) still work? I have old digital video files that refuse to play back in any video player. I didn't have to upload it

[@elconquistador932]

@@CultMark "LMAO" (Clue) Relax a little. Its called humor. I absolutely love the video as well as appreciate everything about it . But I also sold highend Audio Video up until 6 years ago. The quality of the video sucks BUT its also understandable for both the recording standard and the time frame that it has been stored on an analog format. You gunna be OK with that redefined explanation of my original comment or do we need to have a trial and hire attorneys to explain humor, technology and history within the realm of all things KZbin?

[@julianmildren]

@@elconquistador932 Keep digging :-)

[@elconquistador932]

@@julianmildren 🖕

[@kingy23king17]

Filmed from a potato