An Abandoned PBY-5A in Saudi Arabian Desert

TGR Staff -09/30/2012 

The Catalina has lain abandoned for over 40 years on the beach off the Strait of Tiran on the Saudi Arabia side of the entrance to the Gulf of Aqaba.

The aircraft is a PBY-5A model and was bought from the US Navy by Thomas W Kendall, a retired businessman who converted it into a luxury flying yacht. In the spring of 1960, Mr. Kendall took a pleasure trip around the world with his wife and children, his secretary, and her son. A photographer joined the group to cover part of the trip for Life Magazine.

On the 22nd March 1960, they landed at the Strait of Tirana and anchored the aircraft a short distance from the shore to spend the night there. They heard someone shouting but did not pay any attention. The afternoon of the following day, they were attacked with machine guns and automatic firearms from a headland nearby.

The children were able to swim back to the aircraft. Mr. Kendal and his secretary were wounded while trying to start the Catalina but moved it about 800 meters, unfortunately, it ran aground on a coral reef. The firing lasted 30 to 40 minutes and no fewer than 300 shots hit the aircraft. The fuel tanks were perforated and 4000 liters of fuel poured from the holes but miraculously the plane did not catch fire.

The sea was only about 1.5 meters deep and all aboard managed to leave the aircraft and reach the shore. On the beach, they were captured by a group of Bedouins attached to the Saudi Arabian army, who had taken them to be Israeli commandos. They were eventually taken to Jeddah, interrogated, and finally set free with the help of the American Ambassador. The Ambassador protested to the Saudi Arabian government but they refused to accept any liability for the attack and consequent loss of the aircraft. 

See full photo set at: Kendo1938