A passenger aircraft is to be sunk at Capernwray, an inland dive site at the edge of the Lake District.
The Hawker Siddeley plane
The cockpit
The plane is lifted onto a low loader and transported to Capernwray
Staff are preparing the 20-metre Hawker Siddeley (HS) 748 for sinking in the quarry on 29 March.
Chris Collingwood, Capernwray director and operations manager, says: 'I've always wanted a monumental, big wreck and fancied a plane. In the past, I've always been too late and the planes have been broken up before I could get them. This time, I heard that there were six planes at Blackpool airport due to be broken up. I got there when there were just two left.'
Capernwray are hiring a crane to lift the nine-tonne plane into the water, where it will be sunk at 18m. Several boats and two helicopters are already in the quarry.
The seats, pedals and controls have all been left in the cockpit, while the body of the aircraft has been gutted so divers can swim through it. The tail section will be removed and sunk separately to give divers easy access. The plane's wings had to be taken off for it to be transported to Capernwray, but they are being re-attached before it is sunk.
The plane, which is known by its official aircraft registration G-BVOV, was built in 1980 and was designed to carry 48 passengers. It was first used by a Portuguese airline to fly between Lisbon and the Azores before being bought by Emerald Airways. It last flew in 2006 when the airline went out of business and is still painted in their signature white and green.
The plane is 20m long, with a wingspan of 30m. Sitting on its landing gear, it will be 7m tall.
