Capsizing of a Hovercraft

One of the safest modes of transport on the sea is in fact the hovercraft, not technically a ship, or a boat but it is an aircraft which originally came under the regulations of the Civil Aviation Authority. Over the years these craft have shown that they can mix speed with success for both the civilian capacity (ferries) and military. But as with any mode of transport, accidents do happen and in this case a freak accident that had never happened before….and has never happened since.

It was a stormy day on Saturday 4^th March 1972, the waves were choppy out in the Solent (the body of water separating the Isle of Wight from the mainland). The passenger carrying SRN6 type craft, numbered 012, was departing its terminal on the Isle of Wight for the fast crossing to Southsea, just outside the entrance to Portsmouth Harbour. On board were 27 people including the pilot and, just by chance, one of the passengers asked a random question – How do you get out of here in an emergency? He was shown how to break the window and that satisfied his curiosity.

The small craft skimmed the surface of the Solent and slowed down as it approached the Southsea terminal. What nobody knew at the time was the tidal conditions mixed with the bad weather were causing deep troughs just outside the harbour and the craft started dipping side to side. As one side dipped down, the opposite side caught the strong wind and acted like a huge sail, silently flipping the hovercraft over until the entire craft was upside down.

Those who saw this from shore were shocked at what had just occurred. Emergency services were called as the craft, now flat and exposing the underbelly, drifted towards the landing site. But in the cabin, the passenger who had asked that vital question started breaking the emergency glass and getting people out to safety.

It didn’t take long for fire crews to arrive, boarding the craft and hacking away at the craft with axes to try and gain entry from above. By now survivors were coming ashore, the pilot remaining on board the crafts upturned hull to assist the fire teams. Helicopters searched for survivors who may have drifted out to sea and ferry those to hospital that were now on dry land.

Tragically five people died, one of them a young girl who had been taken on the hovercraft as  treat by her uncle who had also perished. One body was never found. SRN6-012 was taken into Portsmouth Harbour by the RFA Swin (right) and raised where an investigation began. The final blame was placed on the bad weather and it was clear that the pilot had taken all precautions and could not have predicted such a freak event.

The craft itself was repaired and put back into service away from the UK, eventually being scrapped years later.

It was 1997 that I first heard of this in an article in the Daily Mail “On this Day” section. I was shocked that there was very little about this in the public domain. The only other hovercraft accidents involved the much larger SRN4 The Princess Margaret hitting Dover harbour wall in 1985 killing four people, but it took years of research to finally get enough information together to finally publish a small book which I named Capsized in the Solent.

I did try to get a memorial plaque put up for the five who died, but sadly there was not only very little interest but people were actively expressing that one wasn’t placed anywhere and that the whole tragic event should be swept under the carpet. There might not be a plaque, but my writing hopefully gives people a chance to know what happened that day and how one man’s random question probably saved most of the lives on board.

It is inevitable that people contact me long after my projects are complete, but a recent interview with the BBC has led to two survivors getting in touch with me recently and already I am getting new insight into a long-forgotten tragedy which should always be remembered.