[email protected]This incident occurred during 1953-4, whilst in the Royal Navy and stationed at Sea Eagle in Derry.
One day, shortly after leaving the dockside aboard an RN Air to Sea Rescue Launch delivering mail to submarines awaiting exercises at the entry to Lough Foyle, a Firefly flew across Lough Foyle in a shallow dive to land at Eglinton, but instead, never straightened, and dived straight into the lough ahead of us, in full view of the launch commander, crew and myself. It had totally disappeared into the mud, leaving no trace bar a muddy patch of water. I was told not to talk about this, as it was (quite rightly), none of my business.
It was indubitably a Firefly, but "to assume is to err," and I now concede it may possibly have been of a different type, such as a Gannet (normal crew complement of 3 compared to the Firefly's 2).
Having preyed on my mind for 60 years, and in spite of all my recent efforts (still under fading investigation), I have been unable to trace any record of the aircraft or its crew. Since no crash goes unrecorded, it remains a mysterious disappearance.
The reason for this diatribe, and for gate-crashing PPRuNe in spite of not being a pilot, is a last ditch attempt to see if anyone out there can shed light upon this crash.
Sincerely,
Colin Clyne.
