- £175.00
1937 ‘COURTIER’, PHALERON BAY, GREECE. On 1st October 1937 the Imperial Airways Short S23 ‘Courtier’ while making its scheduled landing at Phaleron Bay the pilot failed to flatten the flying boat out and it struck the water with great force, which cause the hull to burst open, and it sank in a few minutes. Captain Poole claimed that the reflection of the sun on the still water of the bay, blinded him and he thought the aircraft was touching down on the water, when in fact, it was still fifty feet up. The “Courtier” thus became victim of the phenomenon called ‘glassy calm’. Two passengers drowned, and five passengers were injured, one seriously. The remaining four passengers and crew were uninjured. An Air Ministry regulation followed this accident, making seat belts for passenger seats compulsory on British airplanes. All the mail was recovered in water soaked condition, and many varieties of cachets, markings and labels were applied. This cover from HAIFA, PALESTINE, is dated 28 SE 37. The cover has been resealed on arrival in Germany and a purple two line cachet applied ‘Aus verunglucktem Flugzeug / durch asst geborgen’. This cachet was applied in Germany only to mail to Germany and Poland, and is not often seen. Also this cover is from an uncommon destination.
