Latest attraction for Lancashire lake divers is 'plane' to see! (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Latest attraction for Lancashire lake divers is 'plane' to see!

7:20pm Wednesday 17th March 2010 in

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A HUGE passenger jet will be plunged into waters at a flooded Lancashire quarry this month.

The Hawker Siddeley (HS) 748 plane will be sunk into the lake at Capernwray Diving Centre, near Carnforth, to create the largest man-made underwater attraction in the country.

Divers will be able to swim through the back of the gutted aircraft and explore the inside of the plane - which will lie 16 metres down.

Director Caroline Hack said she hoped the attraction would bring divers from all over the country to the centre which has around 30,000 visitors a year.

“We already have a lot of wrecks down there but that is so much bigger,” she said.

“Most divers love to look for ship wrecks so this is something different for them.

“There has been a huge amount of interest because it is something quite unique.”

Mrs Hack spent almost £20,000 on the former 60-seater passenger plane, which was purchased from Blackpool airport.

Staff at the centre have spent the past eight months stripping out cables and piping, enlarging the entries and exits and re-attaching the wings to the craft.

Built in 1980, it was originally used by Emerald Airways to transport passengers from Liverpool to Lisbon and the Azores, making its last flight in 2006.

With a 100ft wingspan the huge craft will be lowered into the water using a 250 tonne crane on Monday, March 29.