Salvagers forced to leave bomber in loch

Press, 19 September 1985, Page 8

Salvagers forced to leave bomber in loch

NZPA-PA London Loch Ness has refused to give up the wartime Wellington bomber salvage experts worked nine days to raise. The bid was abandoned yesterday. The plane, which has been on the bottom for 45 years, broke away from the special support frame as the lift began. It is believed that the bomber was sucked back by the mud and now the cash for the salvage attempt has run out. The salvage organiser, Robin Holmes, said, “We got the aircraft up about 10 feet

and then suddenly everything went limp and two five-ton lifting bags shot to the surface.” “The lifting frame is a write-off. It is totally distorted — just a mangled heap of metal. One of the lifting strops was shredded.

“At no time has it ever been an economic project. It has been done in people’s spare time, and many companies have put in equipment and time free of charge because of the historic interest of the aircraft.

“This attempt is absolutely finished. It might be possible, if the aircraft was

found again, to do another survey.” The Loch Ness Wellington Association has no money left, he said. The cash, about £35,000 ($89,600), ran out with yesterday’s bid. Thousands of sightseers have watched the salvage, many travelling from abroad in hopes of seeing the aircraft, the sole surviving Wellington to have seen action during World War 11. The bomber, number N 2980, was ditched in the loch on New Year’s Eve, 1940, after an engine failed in a snowstorm during a training flight.