Wreckage of plane is discovered by hikers on Scottish mountain

Wreckage of plane that nosedived into a Scottish mountain while carrying 20 passengers 78 years ago is discovered by hikers – and it even features graffiti from a visitor in 1972

  • Pamela Aitken, 39, and her friend Kathryn Gaffney, 53, found a plane wreckage
  • They were walking on Irish Law mountain in North Ayrshire, Scotland, on Sunday
  • Photographs show British European Airways Flight S200P that crashed in 1948
  • It had 20 passengers on board when it nosedived into the mountain, injuring 13 

Hikers have stumbled across the wreckage of a plane that nosedived on a Scottish mountain while carrying 20 passengers in 1948.

Pamela Aitken, 39, and her friend Kathryn Gaffney, 53, found mounds of twisted metal and engine fragments on Irish Law mountain in North Ayrshire, near the town of Largs, on Sunday.

But it was clear they weren’t the first visitors, as a ‘Ray Purchase’ scratched his name, the year 1971 and a smiley face on the side of one of the pieces of metal. 

The wreckage is thought to be the British European Airways Flight S200P that plunged into the mountain on April 21, 1948, reported The Daily Record. 

Pamela Aitken, 39, and her friend Kathryn Gaffney, 53, found mounds of twisted metal and engine fragments on Irish Law mountain in North Ayrshire, near the town of Largs, on Sunday

Twenty passengers were on board the short-haul flight from London-Northolt Airport to Glasgow-Renfrew Airport.

Miraculously, everyone on board survived the crash – even as the plane burst into a giant fireball. 

Ms Aitken said: ‘My friend Kathryn and I found another plane wreckage on our local hills, would you believe it.

‘I couldn’t believe how much of it was still there and some parts were all still intact.

‘My friend and hillwalking buddy Kathryn and I have been out exploring all of our local hills as we can’t get further afield just now.’


It was clear they weren’t the first visitors, as a ‘Ray Purchase’ scratched his name, the year 1971 and a smiley face on the side of one of the pieces of metal (left). Right, part of the engine

Footage of the wreckage was shared on Facebook where enthusiasts were quick to comment their thoughts. 

One wrote: ‘You would think that the wreckage would have been removed for air accident investigation by the CAA.’

Another added: ‘I did not know aircraft wreckage was on Scottish mountains to be honest.

‘I would have thought aircraft engineers would have recovered any wreckage to discover the cause of the airplane crash.’

Footage of the wreckage was shared on Facebook where enthusiasts were quick to comment their thoughts

A third person wrote: ‘As a lad, growing up in Largs, my pals and I used to roam far and wide over the high ground between Largs and Kilbarchan in search of “the crashed planes”.’

Parts of the plane left on the hillside included fragments of the engine, landing gear and parts of the wings.

After the crash in which 13 people were injured, an investigation found it was caused by pilot error.

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