What happened
The incident occurred during an attempted landing in rough sea conditions. The pilot chose to land downwind rather than into the wind. During this maneuver, the Catalina overshot the designated alighting area. As a result, the aircraft's nose dug into the water surface. This impact caused the plane to nearly overturn, although it eventually settled back into an erect position. Shortly after stabilizing, the aircraft caught fire and subsequently sank in fairly shallow waters.
The crew consisted of members from the 240th Squadron. The flight deck included three pilots, a navigator, a flight engineer, a wireless operator who also served as an air gunner, and two additional air gunners. Six passengers were also on board at the time of the accident.
Findings
Official reports indicate that while some accounts suggested the aircraft was overloaded with equipment, the primary contributing factor was identified as the direction of the landing. The decision to approach downwind in rough conditions is cited as the main cause of the overshoot and subsequent crash.