A new diver attraction has splash-landed at the Wraysbury inland site west of London – the forward section of a Boeing 737-300 airliner.
Richard Major, who runs Wraysbury Dive Centre, says that he first saw the front half of G-CELA at Cotswold Airport (formerly RAF Kemble) in Gloucestershire.
“The back half apparently was destroyed in a Fast & Furious movie,” he told Divernet. “Her first flight was in 1986 for an Australian airline, and she went on to belong to Jet2 and eventually was converted into a cargo plane.”
G-CELA’s last flight was to Cotswold in June, 2017, and the front of the fuselage was transported to Wraysbury in May 2019. “We had been preparing her for sinking when the pandemic halted our plans slightly,” said Major.
The new attraction was finally sunk at the end of August, placed in the shallower part of the lake to allow snorkellers as well as scuba divers to enjoy it.
“We need to thank Mark Gregory at Air Salvage International, Lee Lifting for their huge crane and expertise, SSI for their sponsorship and our wonderful dive family who worked very hard to put it in place safely,” said Major.
The 15-acre Wraysbury lake already has a large number of underwater attractions as well as what are said to be more training platforms at various depths than at any other UK inland dive-site, and waterside parking. Admission is £15 a day – find out more here.
***** BOTH THE INSHORE and all-weather Eyemouth RNLI lifeboats had to launch yesterday afternoon (6 September) to rescue three scuba divers who had been seen clinging to a lobster-pot marker buoy. The Coastguard had received reports that the shore-divers were in difficulties off the Greenends Gulley area of Eyemouth, in the Scottish Borders.
Coastguard teams from Eyemouth, Berwick and Dunbar were also dispatched to attend the incident. The inshore lifeboat crew rescued the divers and transferred them to the other vessel. One diver required immediate medical treatment, and on landing was collected by ambulance.
