22nd April 1934

Pilot helps yacht in distress

When Flight Lieutenant Eckersley Maslin spotted a yacht in distress while flying his passenger aircraft from Jersey to Heston Airport, he dropped down low to see if he could help. In fact, he was so low that he and his passengers could clearly make out the people on deck signalling that they were stranded. The vessel was a 50-ton motor yacht called Cormorant, with six passengers aboard and drifting without any power.

Maslin had been closing on the Isle of Wight, so he flew on towards the mainland and, spotting another craft nearby, descended again and made a series of signals to indicate that Cormorant was nearby and in need of assistance. He then flew to Heston as quickly as his plane could manage, contacted the Admiralty and told them to radio the lifeboat. In the end, Cormorant was rescued by a steamer, which threw her a line and towed her back to the mainland.