Great Mull Air Mystery

The Great Mull Air Mystery is the name given by the media to the disappearance of pilot Peter Gibbs on 24 December 1975 after he took an unscheduled solo night flight from Glenforsa Airfield on the Isle of Mull in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, United Kingdom. Gibbs' uninjured but decomposed body was discovered, without the plane, on a hillside near the airfield four months later, but how and why he came to be there has never been established. In later life Gibbs became the managing director of a property development company called Gibbs and Rae. Glenforsa Airfield was built by the Royal Engineers between May and August 1965 to act as the only fixed-wing air ambulance evacuation facility on Mull. The airstrip is grass and at that time had no runway lights. The plane was a Cessna F150H, registration mark G-AVTN, painted red and white.

On the morning of 24 December 1975, Gibbs and Grainger flew from Mull to Broadford on the Isle of Skye to spend the day viewing properties. Gibbs was observed to turn the plane lights off, then on, then off again. He then took off from the unlit airfield on a moonless night and, after the plane disappeared behind a line of trees, Howitt dipped the car's headlights to illuminate the water but no trace of the plane was seen. The search was described as huge and extended over the Christmas holiday.

Discovery of the body In April 1976, Due to decomposition the only thing holding the body together was the clothing. The body was facing due north in a direction that indicated that Gibbs was walking down hill.

The body was taken to Glasgow for the post mortem. Gibbs' remains gave no clues to his cause of death. Forensic tests detected no salt or marine organisms in Gibbs' clothing or boots. No wreckage was found of the aircraft at that time. It was reported that the windscreen was out and both doors were locked. The aircraft yielded no clues as to how it came to be there.