Blackburn Skua - Recovery of L2896

Recovery of L2896

In April 2007, the only known nearly complete Blackburn Skua was discovered in Orkdalsfjorden in Norway at 242 metres depth. Due to an engine failure, the Skua, flown by John Casson, leader of 803 Squadron, had to make an emergency water landing in the fjord. Both crew members survived and spent the next five years as prisoners of war. Despite efforts to get the aircraft to the surface as gently as possible, the tail broke off. The engine had become detached in the original ditching. The fuselage, cockpit and wings were salvaged. The Skua will be restored at Norway's aviation museum in Bodø.

In 1974 the L2940 was recovered from Breidalsvatnet lake near Grotli in Skjåk municipality. The crew had done an emergency landing on the ice-covered lake on April 27, 1940. They made their way to a mountain lodge where they encountered German troops. This incident is the plot of Into the white.