G-AGES. Short S-25 Sunderland Mk III. c/n JM661.

This aircraft was built by Short Bros. Ltd at Rochester, Kent as a Sunderland Mk III - 1942

It was built for the Ministry of Supply under Contract B.78939/40

It was the 2nd aircraft built for BOAC by Short Bros under this contract

Contrary to popular belief the Sunderlands built for BOAC were not converted from existing military aircraft

They were built new as civil aircraft without any armament or military equipment at all

Entered onto the British Aircraft Register as G-AGES (CofR 9375/1) - November 12, 1942

Registered to British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), Clifton, Bristol, England

(Bristol was the location of BOAC Headquarters during World War 2)

It was allocated the name 'Selsey' but it was not taken up

Powered by Bristol Pegasus XVIII engines of 815 hp each

First flown at Rochester, Kent - December 31, 1942

The aircraft was under the command of John Lankester Parker (Short Bros Senior Test Pilot)

The aircraft was delivered to BOAC at Hythe - January 15, 1943

It was the second Short S-25 Sunderland Mk III delivered to BOAC

It was closely followed by a further 4 examples (G-AGET - G-AGEW) forming the initial batch of 6 aircraft

Certificate of Airworthiness (CofA #6953) issued - January 19, 1943

Initially the aircraft were painted in a dark green / grey camouflage livery with very large black registration markings

on the rear fuselage, outlined in silver and underlined with a red, white and blue stripe

This clearly identified them as being British civil aircraft

Entered service operating the Poole - Lagos service via West Africa as 'Service Number 19W203' - May 27, 1943

This aircraft was destroyed when it collided with a mountain - July 28, 1943

It was operating the service from Lisbon to Foynes as 'Service Number 20W223'

It was approaching Foynes in thick fog when it crashed into a mountain on the Dingle Peninsula, County Kerry, Ireland

The P.I.C. tried to visually establish his whereabouts when he discovered he was flying up a mountain valley

He attempted to make a tight turn but struck Slieveglass, Mount Brandon at an altitude of 2,000 feet

The aircraft was destroyed by fire

The aircraft's captain and 9 passengers died but 6 crew members and 9 other passengers survived

Cancelled from the British Aircraft Register - July 28, 1943

NOTE: This aircraft had not been converted to 'Hythe' standard prior to its accident