Fire_Services_1965-1966 — Page 32

plane cartwheeled over, spilling fuel which started fire on a lighter tied alongside the praya and on the surface of the sea.

127. The aircraft had almost completely submerged on impact and only the tip of one tail plane and the fractured edge of the port wing were visible when the first rescue craft reached the scene a few minutes later. Notwithstanding the obvious hazards of burning fuel, and the real possibility of the entire area flashing into flame, numerous workers and residents of the area, some swimming and some in sampans unhesitatingly went to the aid of survivors who had been flung clear of the wreck. The Coxswain of No. 4 Fire Boat (which reached the scene within a few minutes of the crash) with commendable skill manoeuvred his vessel to within 20 feet of the smouldering aircraft, and two of his crew dived into the water and brought 3 survivors to the boat. There were in all 13 survivors, of whom one subsequently succumbed to his injuries.

128. Land based Fire Service units which reached the scene within 4 or 5 minutes of the crash quickly extinguished the lighter fire and the burning spillage and Fire Service divers made a survey of the wreck. They confirmed that there was no possibility of any persons remaining alive in the wreck since the whole of the fuselage was ripped open and no air bubbles could have been entrained in the aircraft.

129. Royal Navy divers and Fire Service divers after repeated dives brought two corpses to the surface but as the jagged and mangled wreckage persistently fouled the divers' life lines diving operations to extricate bodies were abandoned.

130. For several reasons it was vital that the aircraft be raised and put on shore with the absolute minimum delay one of which was that fuel leaking from the tanks was creating a serious hazard to shipping and a nearby oil installation. Salvage operations were begun shortly after noon by Port Works Officers, Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock staff and Taikoo Dock staff. The salvage operation was an extremely difficult and hazardous exercise since it involved the raising and moving of the wreck by the joint efforts of two cumbersome crane barges in an atmosphere heavily contaminated with inflammable vapours.

131. The removal of the aircraft to the shore occupied over 8 hours. When the aircraft was brought sufficiently close to the shore Fire Service personnel and members of the Dockyard staff began extricating casualties using a rude pontoon of boards and drums. This was a very difficult phase of the operations since the work had to be conducted in

26