PBY Tanker #85 took on water and beached during film work...

[Warbirdnerd]

FLORA-BAMA - A vintage Catalina PBY flying boat being used in the filming of the Nicolas Cage movie "USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage" was beached near the iconic Flora-Bama lounge on Monday, June 29.

According to Orange Beach fire officials, during work on the movie the antique craft started taking on water and it ended up beached.

The Catalina PBY was one of the planes that played an instrumental part in the rescue of sailors after the Indianapolis was sunk by Japanese torpedoes near the end of World War II.

At about 3 p.m. Monday, it was reported as secured.

About 5 p.m. a crew arrived with two tractors to try and pull the plane to the beach. A cable was attached to the plane and to one of the tractors and another chain was looped between the two tractors.

Both tried to pull the plane free but the cable snapped and crews were unable to free the plane from the sandbar.

A pump was running the entire time removing water from inside the plane. Officials are expected to try and remove the plane again on June 30.

Found it here:
http://www.gulfcoastnewstoday.com/area_ ... e5e93.html

[Warbird Kid]

PBYs just don't seem to hold up in the ocean do they? Or is this a misconception? Hope they can repair her soon.

[Warbirdnerd]

The nose gear doors are a weak spot, and have failed before.

[TAdan]

Thank goodness they were able to beach it! Losing it would be a real shame after all the recent work. I hope they can get it dried out and patched up to try again.

[JOMiller]

Local TV station coverage.....

http://www.fox10tv.com/story/29437781/w ... g-on-water

[Nathan]

yeah and people on the wrecked and abandoned aircraft and ship facebook page were doing nothing but making arm-chair/smart-ass jokes about it.

[tom roberts]

Owner ?

[Warbirdnerd]

Owner ?

Registered to Flying Firemen Inc:
http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry ... bertxt=85U

[David Legg]

Owner ?

Registered to Flying Firemen Inc:
http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry ... bertxt=85U

Flying Fireman Inc

[JohnB]

What , no comments about it being the wrong color, painted waist blisters and a civil nose?

I must be on the wrong forum.

[TAdan]

What , no comments about it being the wrong color, painted waist blisters and a civil nose?

I must be on the wrong forum.

Oh, I think we all noticed. I was just trying to stay positive and be happy that a Hollywood production was using the correct aircraft type in a big budget movie.

Can't wait to see these beached photos make the rounds on Facebook for the next three years (like Liberty Belle).

[Lon Moer]

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Can't wait to see these beached photos make the rounds on Facebook for the next three years (like Liberty Belle).

Because there's hundreds of them!
http://www.gulfcoastnewstoday.com/area_news/collection_a0d345f0-1edc-11e5-b0d2-2b45e14bb0d7.html

[JOMiller]

What airplane??

[Steve Nelson]

What , no comments about it being the wrong color, painted waist blisters and a civil nose?

I must be on the wrong forum.

To be honest, that was the first thing I noticed.

But since this thread is regarding what could have turned out to be a catastrophic and possible fatal accident, I figured I'd lay off on the "rivet counting"...this time anyway. I'm just glad plane and crew are OK.

SN

[Dan K]

Didn't take the souvenir hunters long...