The existence of a sunken small engined aeroplane in the harbour of Vathy is widely known, however the full story of the events leading up to its demise remains a mystery.

 

The following is the account by Gerasimos Mantzaris, an eyewitness to the plane's crash into the sea. Original text in Greek by Panagiotis Konidaris, Meganisi Times.

 

"It was January of 1972. We were fishing off the island of Skorpios when suddenly we heard a roar. We turned around and watched the aeroplane fall from the sky uncontrollably. We saw a life raft and rushed to the rescue. There were two young boys in their early twenties on board. We rescued them and headed for Skorpios where we dropped them off. I didn't know English, but I managed to understand that they were returning from a Corfu casino. After that they called the port police and we never saw them again. The aeroplane completely sank. Some divers came and tried to take it out of the water with no luck at all. I knew exactly where it was and for a year or so I was fishing over it. It was a great fishing spot for groupers as they love aluminium. I kept this secret to myself until one day a friend of mine asked me to take him there. So I did. It wasn't even a week later when he went with his drifter fishing boat and dragged the plane into Vathy."

 

The plane still lies in shallow water near the edge of the harbour and can be easily seen in most conditions, but particularly on a windless day when the water is very still. If you walk to the eastern side of the harbour, almost directly opposite the church and just before the white posts on the quay, near a house with blue shutters and a set of concrete steps just behind you, stand on the edge of the quay and you will see the plane about 3 metres off the edge of the quay.