Plane was a Beaufort bomber of 14 Sqd. which plunged into the sea 20 miles West of Sorrento during a training flight between Pearce and Rottnest in W.A. It is believed the elevator coupling on the tail was faulty and consequently all other Beauforts were grounded until the fault was rectified. As many as 93 Beauforts based at Sale in Victoria had crashed during training, killing many crew members. Wing Commander Learmonth DFC was the pilot of the plane.