Date:	Wednesday 13 July 1932
Time:
Type:	Saunders-Roe A7 Severn
Owner/operator:	209 Sqn RAF
Registration:	N240
MSN:	A7/1
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 8
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Location:	near Larne, Northern Ireland -   United Kingdom
Phase:	En route
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:	Tarbet, UK
Destination airport:	RAF Wig Bay, Stranraer, UK

Narrative:
The Saunders-Roe A7 was an experimental aircraft developed in 1928 and first flown in 1930. It had been developed by the S.E. Saunders Ltd company prior to its take-over by A.V. Roe; due to this, it was known under several different names: either as the Saunders, Saunders-Roe or Saro A7, or alternately as the Severn.

Following trials with the Marine Aircraft Experimental Establishment, the design of the Severn was found to be satisfactory in its flight and handling, but problematic in that its design, focussed on weight saving, was too fragile, and that workmanship on the airframe was lacking, thus resulting in a design that would be problematic if ordered in quantity. Despite being turned down for serial production, the sole prototype was nonetheless allocated to 209 Squadron, RAF in July 1932.

On July 13th 1932, the aircraft took off from Tarbet on Loch Lomond for a test flight which would bring it via the Northern Irish coast to the seaplane base of RAF Wig Bay near Stranraer. However, while enroute, the aircraft developed engine trouble, forcing the crew to make an emergency landing on heavy seas off The Maidens near Larne. Two of the crew took to the aircraft's dingy, but it broke away from the aircraft before the others could join them. The six crew stranded aboard the Saunders Severn were rescued by the Greek steamer Nicos which was heading to Cardiff; the two crew aboard the dingy managed to reach the shores near Larne on their own. The aircraft eventually sank in the heavy seas.

ABC (Sevilla) 14 July 1932, p33
Algemeen Handelsblad, 14 July 1932, p.6
Rotterdamsch Nieuwsblad, 14 July 1932, p.2
The Leeds Mercury, 14 July 1932, p.1
Scottish Aerodromes of the 1920s and 1930s, Malcolm Fife - chapter 9, Flying Boats and Seaplane Bases - https://books.google.be/books?id=_cwAEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT191&lpg=PT191&dq=Saunders-roe+severn+larne&source=bl&ots=znLUnrRUl5&sig=ACfU3U19ujsHPGOa62nqjhCURAnjsqL2KA&hl=nl&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj_yfva_smCAxX53QIHHTnAAU8Q6AF6BAgsEAM#v=onepage&q=Saunders-roe%20severn%20larne&f=false
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saunders_Severn

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
31-Aug-2016 13:00	TB	Added
17-Nov-2023 07:22	Anon	Updated [Aircraft type, Registration, Cn, Operator, Total occupants, Location, Country, Phase, Departure airport, Destination airport, Source, Narrative, Category]
20-Nov-2023 22:20	Nepa	Updated [Operator, Operator]