David Legg wrote:
I was the crew chief on board. Here us a brief summary of what happened.
"Miss Pick Up has spent the past week carrying out filming, first for a US TV series at RAF Halton then on Loch Ness for a UK series. It has been a rewarding and successful experience and both TV companies have been delighted with the results. Unfortunately, after our last landing on Loch Ness yesterday afternoon, the starboard engine would not start and a failed starter motor was diagnosed. After assessing options, the Catalina was towed by an RNLI boat to a relatively sheltered bay on the Loch where she is now moored. Sadly, before the RNLI rescue, another substantial rib-type boat impacted the Catalina’s rear hull and smashed the blister transparency. A plan is now in place and our engineer Garry Short will travel to Scotland and replace the faulty starter and patch up the blister sufficient for a short ferry flight to Inverness airport where a further action plan will be put in place prior to a return to our base at Duxford."
It was felt to be very important to at least try and get the Catalina off the Loch as there are no slipways there and very few options for beaching. Two attempts were made by our two very experienced pilots to safely take off on the good engine. This was unsuccessful as insufficient speed could be attained and no further attempts were made. In the end, the lifeboat team who took us in tow were able to take us to a mooring buoy where, in darkness, we safely secured the aircraft. All focus is now on replacing the broken starter motor and effecting a temporary repair on the port blister to safely fly off the loch in the next few days and fly the short distance to Inverness Dalcross Airport. It was very unfortunate that a fairly simple mechanical failure was compounded by an over-enthusiastic boatman, not one of our team. But accidents happen. I hope this clarifies the position.
I'm trying to understand how taking off single engine could be considered a safe or prudent option? Both the Vmc and safe single engine speeds are above the take off speed in water. This means that the aircraft would not be controllable just after liftoff from the water. Is there something I'm missing here?