Dog walker discovers 2001 Loganair plane crash debris on Edinburgh beach

An eagle-eyed aviation enthusiast has stumbled upon remains of the tragic 2001 Loganair plane crash while out walking his dog.

Bill Simpson was out with his boxer dog, Duke, on the beach near Gypsy Brae at around 3pm on Friday, June 12, when he spotted a corner of a plastic plate sticking up from the sand.

Upon further inspection, Mr Simpson, aged 71 and an aviation enthusiast, was able to determine that the plate belonged to the Loganair Shorts 60-100 turboprop airliner which crashed into the Firth of Forth on February 27, 2001.

Mr Simpson explained: “I’ve always had quite an interest in planes, and, when I saw it, I thought it was definitely something to do with the plane crash.

“If you look at the top of the plate, it says it’s for a Pratt and Whitley engine which is definitely the kind of engine that plane would have had.”

The devastating crash of the Loganair plane took the lives of both crew members during a cargo flight for the Royal Mail from Edinburgh Turnhouse Airport to Belfast International.

The RAF carried out a recovery operation and the Air Accident Investigation Board concluded that the air intakes for the plane’s engines had become clogged with snow and ice whilst it was on the ground, leading to the engines of the plane failing.

The plate Mr Simpson discovered, around six inches by eight in size, contains engine management information, and, if it was mounted in the cockpit, the crew may have been using the plate to try and stop the plane from crashing.

Mr Simpson recounts his memories of the crash: “It was quite dramatic. The two pilots tried to reach the grassy area at Gypsy Brae Recreation Area (West Granton Road) but failed to reach safety and crashed into the sea – sadly the tide was in – a couple of hundred yards from safety.

“The tail of the plane was sticking up in the air and I remember walking along the promenade and seeing it from a distance.”

With the crash happening almost twenty years ago, Mr Simpson commented on how extraordinary that he was able to find this debris only a couple of hundred yards from the crash scene.

But, despite the unlikely find, he said he had little inclination to salvage the remains.

“One of the things which I thought was rather curious was that it was literally within a couple of hundred yards of where the plane came down and to think it’s been there for almost 20 years since is really quite amazing.

“But I felt that as it had been there all of this time, it should stay there so I left it in the sand”.

Mr Simpson commented that his discovery of the plate from the air crash served as a “poignant” reminder of the essential work many are doing during the coronavirus pandemic.

He said: “It seemed a bit poignant that the guys in the plane died as they were delivering mail. They were doing a public service job and lost their lives.

“It made me think about people who are doing these public service jobs right now – their lives are at risk and we shouldn’t forget that.”

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