What happened
The incident occurred during a night navigation exercise involving a seaplane that had departed from Lawrenny RNAS. The aircraft was carrying a crew of three individuals at the time of the accident. As the plane approached its destination from the south, the pilot did not recognize that the altitude was insufficient for safe passage over the terrain. Consequently, the aircraft collided with trees and crashed into a wooded area situated near the Cleddau River.
Following the impact, all three crew members were successfully rescued from the wreckage. The seaplane was destroyed in the crash, but there were no reports of fatalities or injuries among the personnel on board.
Findings
The official investigation attributed the accident to pilot error. Specifically, the failure to detect and correct insufficient altitude during the approach phase led directly to the collision with obstacles.