80th anniversary of loss of HP42 Hannibal
It is 80 years since the unexplained loss of HP 42 'Hannibal' on the 1st Mar 1940. The machine was out of Karachi with 4 crew plus 4 px fuelled at Jiwani and reported over Jask on the final leg to Sharjah. It failed to arrive at Sharjah, and wartime restrictions and secrecy aside no cogent information has ever come to light that gives any indication of the fate of Hannibal other than the usual 'lost over the Gulf of Oman'. Jask was a pre war Imperial Airways landing ground so we can assume that position report was correct, although the terrain between the gulf and Sharjah is quite inhospitable in places. Who knows what recues services were available in that area during the war, and where would they start looking, and why did they assume the aircraft was lost over the Gulf and not over land. We are talking about a machine that only claimed a cruise speed of 100mph when new and did not benefit from navigation equipment that could pinpoint a position without visual reference.
Another factor is the cloud of secrecy that still surrounds this incident, and also a lack of information that has surfaced over the years. No tangible wreckage evidence has ever been reported despite this being a substantial machine albeit a metal one with fabric covered wings. One wonders what modern techniques could be implemented to further explore this mystery and are there some documents still lurking in a secure place that could shed more light .