Shackleton: No SARBE yet. No flares either. Hang on. We're going round again.

Another two minutes elapsed.

Shackleton: GCI. Over.

Staxton: Receiving you 77. Over.

Shackleton: This is odd, GCI. She's sinking fast but ... the canopy's closed up again. Over.

Staxton: Can you confirm pilot clear of aircraft? Over.

Shackleton: He's not in it, we can confirm that. He must be in the water somewhere.

Staxton: Any distress signals or flares yet? Over.

Shackleton: Negative GCI. Going round again. Over.

Ninety seconds later the crew of the Shackleton were back in contact with Staxton Wold.

Shackleton: She's sunk GCI. There's a slight wake where she was. Still no sign of the pilot. I say again GCI, we need a chopper here fast. Over.

Staxton: A Whirlwind's on its way from Leconfield. Are you positive you saw no sign of the pilot?. Over.

Shackleton: Nothing GCI. The first pass we assumed he was unstrapping. He must have got out as we went round for a second pass ... but why shut the canopy? Over.

Staxton: That's what we were thinking. Maintain patrol 77, he must be there somewhere. Over.

Shackleton: Roger GCI. Over.

Shortly after the search and rescue Whirlwind from nearby Loconfield arrived on the scene and began a systematic search of the crash site the aircraft was then joined by the lifeboats from Bridlington, Flamborough and Filey as the weather began to deteriorate. The search continued well into the next day but there was no transmissions from the beacons carried by the pilot on board the aircraft the official reports of this incident say no distress flares were seen. On October 7th divers from HMS Keddleston had examined the wreckage and said that Captain Schaffners body was still in the cockpit but the biggest mystery is that when the aircraft was brought to the surface and returned to Binbrook there was no trace of the Captain just an empty cockpit. When the wreck was finally lifted from the sea five miles away from Flamborough Head it was taken secretly directly to RAF Binbrook.

Strangely enough many of the cockpits instruments were missing these included B2B compass, voltmeter, stand-by direction indicator, stand-by invertors indicator and the complete auxiliary warning panel from the starboard side of the cockpit below the voltmeter. This was a massive breach of regulations and thought the Ministry of Defence crash investigation team was promised the instruments would be returned they never were. The ejector seat also seemed to be wrong and there was suspicion later among the investigators that it was not the one fitted to the aircraft when it took off from Binbrook on its final flight. They were even given assurance by the commanding officer of the 5 squadron that the seat had not been tempered with but some of the investigators were not at all convinced.

After the investigators job was over they were told not to discuss anything of the event with there families because of national security.

Something did indeed happen that night in September of 1970 and still remains a mystery to this very day.

Written and Researched by Sam Willey
Website: www.alienationsam.com
Email: Sam Willey

Source and References - UFOcasebook and the BBC