A former boatman who worked off Southend Pier believes he might hold vital clues to the death of pioneering aviator Amy Johnson.
She was the first woman to fly solo from England to Australia in 1930.
But while her exploits in her single engine Gypsy Moth are stuff of legend, the circumstances of her death have always been shrouded in mystery - until now it seems.
On January 5, 1941 - 11 years after she made her historic flight - she set off to deliver an RAF aircraft to Oxfordshire, but crashed into the Thames estuary off Herne Bay.
Despite exhaustive searches, her body was never found and the mystery of what exactly happened was never fully revealed.
However according to 80-year-old retired boatman Tom O'Rourke, the heroine parachuted out of her plane into the sea.
But she drowned when a rescue boat got too close to her and sucked her under its propeller.
Great grandfather Mr O'Rourke, who emigrated to New South Wales, Australia, 30 years ago, said he was 100 per cent certain about the story. The news comes as the RAF launches a new search for the remains of Amy Johnson.
More on this story in today's Evening Echo
Published Tuesday August 27, 2002
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