4th August 1936

The wreckage of the Cloud of Iona is found

Jersey Airways’ plane, The Cloud of Iona, disappeared between Guernsey and Jersey on the night of 31 July 1936. With two crew and eight passengers aboard, the twin-engine de Havilland Dragon sea plane had set out in closing fog and, when she failed to arrive on the landing strip at St Aubin’s Bay, lifeboats and other aircraft were sent out to find her.

Wreckage found

In early August, the first parts of her wreckage were discovered on Minquiers Reef and bodies were washing up on the French coast within a week. None of them showed any signs of having been involved in a crash, suggesting that the plane had made a controlled descent to the sea, after which she had broken up and the passengers drowned. It’s fair to speculate that the crew got lost and, as the Cloud of Iona wasn’t equipped with a powerful enough radio, been unable to call for help.

The first part of the wreckage to be found was an 18ft section of wing, soon followed by a float, which was washed up on the beach at Annoville.