Catalina beached in USA

Thanks David. The general message remains though; it isn’t just Americans that wreck Catalinas!

Point taken Meddle but, without in any way wishing to score points, I would contend that they certainly have monopolised, albeit they have had more scope through numbers!

Excluding commercial losses (e.g. water bombing accidents) the Confederate Air Force (as was) alone has lost four – one to a completely avoidable fatal accident (N16KL), one to a mechanical fatal accident (N15KL), one to utter neglect (N68756) and one to weather related ground damage (N7179Y) that although ultimately repairable will have consumed a fifth airframe (N324FA) in the process of restoration when eventually finished. Another, privately owned aircraft (C-FSAT) was lost in the USA after a precautionary landing on water off Hawaii and in a crane recovery manner very similar to what appears to have happened to N85U the other day.

Thanks David. The general message remains though; it isn’t just Americans that wreck Catalinas!

For the sake of balance, once must remember Catalina G-BLSC/VR-BPS that was wrecked in Southampton in 1998 and ultimately ended up being scrapped at Dublin Weston airport in 2012.

Just for the sake of accuracy, the registration was VP-BPS at the time of the accident on Southampton Water.

The later scrapping had no direct connection with the original accident (although some strop damage was caused to an already salt-immersed airframe at the time of lifting from the water).

“It was an old plane and it certainly has paid its dues,” Wolfe said of the flying boat. “Everybody was very sad about it but it was what it was.”

The production crew had most of the shots they needed for the film and will green-screen the rest,

So that’s all OK then :stupid:

However, before we all get the knives too deeply into the film company, I would ask if it was the film company or the owners of the Catalina (or their insurance company?) who arranged/oversaw the attempt at ‘recovery’? I would have expected the latter?

Its just an advert for the film thats all! Basically the aircraft was pretty much intact and could have been beached far better. The lift crew probably greatly underestimated the water load onboard the aircraft and it structurally failed . Why greater efforts were not made for a beach recovery is beyond me!

http://scoopdeck.navytimes.com/2015/07/09/wwii-era-sea-plane-breaks-up-during-uss-indianapolis-movie-shoot/

Oh for crying out loud!!! God bless America indeed, they need all the help they can get if they go about things like that!

For the sake of balance, once must remember Catalina G-BLSC/VR-BPS that was wrecked in Southampton in 1998 and ultimately ended up being scrapped at Dublin Weston airport in 2012.

Until we know the full details behind the loss of the US aircraft I think the American populous can be left off the hook for a wee while at least. :apologetic:

Piston, Agree with what you say. That aircraft’s history cannot be changed but just perhaps there may be someone who has read this thread who may someday be involved in such a venture who could perhaps give some pause to the “organisers” to ensure the survival of another machine somewhere else. That said, there is no antidote to stupidity.

I do find this forum amusing but ultimately frustrating. Before the “in fighting” continues, why not just move on? The PBY is wrecked, and is now only good for salvage and scrap. No kangaroo court on here will rectify history.

There are a few reality Tv shows about salvage companies and you can see the wide variety of attitudes and skill levels on public show. What happened to this aircraft is sad but not a one off occurance as Mustang 51 points out.

Mike J………… There is an old saying about “Take care what you say before a wall as you cannot know who may be behind it..” Same applies to this Forum as you do not know what expertise those members have. In fact I have about 30 years in moving aircraft at various times, mostly warbirds, in all sorts of situations, and am aware of the problems in moving submerged or mud/sand filled aircraft…. and I have some experience with PBY structure. That move was as botched as it could possibly have been and I too subscribe to mikeeepannell’s theory about the movie guys or possibly the local authorities getting involved. Have seen the results of getting people who know nothing but “Big Machines” getting involved in moving a virtually complete B.25 that landed on an old clay pan, filled over the years with silt and then was torn apart by idiots and the pieces left there with a casual “Oh well….”

This was totally botched…….could not have been worse

What a shame. I have a picture of this very PBY as my desktop.Will be interesting to see the official explanation of what went wrong in due course.

Sadly it sounds as if the recovery was badly botched and they managed to tear the wing off in the process. What a shame.

Surely their big mistake was not to consult the members of this forum. It seems obvious from the comments above that every member here is an expert in marine salvage.

Hang on a mo – you seem to have started the ball rolling by claiming it was “botched” – would you care to share the “depth” of your marine salvage expertise? 😀

Oh for crying out loud!!! God bless America indeed, they need all the help they can get if they go about things like that! I’ll be damned if I watch that film, murdering a lovely aircraft like that…

No, seriously, the sea was calm as a pond, and they could have used a submerged barge instead of trying to lift it. Or yes, just used lifting bags and towed it to a ramp. Accidents are bad enough, but this is just bizarre and just so frustrating!

Surely their big mistake was not to consult the members of this forum. It seems obvious from the comments above that every member here is an expert in marine salvage.

Why not finish off the ‘beaching’? It was in shallow water, on the waterline – why tow it out into deeper water then try to crane it onto a barge. I hope some expert in flying boat operation/recovery techniques will enlighten the forum.

Remember how the strops crunched into the hull on the Plane Sailing one when it was lifted, this is unreal and a total lack of any thought or plan, almost as if the movie company said ‘Ah dont worry about it mate we will pay for you to get a new one’ utterly incredulous at the attempt…i would be distraught.

Mike

What a complete and utter stu*f-up. Obviously no-one there with even the basic knowledge of a PBY to stop such a woe-begotten attempt at “salvage”. How did they manage to break up the wings like that? Air bags, multiple pumps and tow it to a marina or the nearest boat ramp. Now its scrap.

“Botched” is putting it mildly…

One less Cat…

Good story but sad ending!