1939 Imperial Airways Short Empire ditching

On 21 January 1939, the Imperial Airways Short Empire flying boat Cavalier, en route from New York City to Bermuda, lost power to its engines and ditched in heavy seas approximately 285 miles (459 km) southeast of New York. It subsequently sank, resulting in the death of 3 passengers out of 13 passengers and crew. Ten hours later, the survivors were picked up by the tanker Esso Baytown.

Accident

On the day of the incident, Cavalier left the Port Washington Seaplane Airport in Port Washington, on Long Island, New York, at 10:38 bound for Bermuda. At 12:23 p.m. the flying boat sent the message Running into bad weather. May have to earth, which referred to earthing the aerial; this was followed by another message at 12:27 Still in bad weather. Severe Static. Port Washington tried to call the Cavalier for the next 15 minutes but did not get a reply. At 12:57 Cavalier broadcast an SOS message followed at 12:59 by All engines failing through ice. Altitude 1,500 ft [457 m]. Forced landing in a few minutes. Another message eight minutes later said it was still flying but on two engines; four minutes after that came a series of messages to say that it had had to come down in the sea. The last message, at 13:13, was the single word Sinking.