Christmas Eve 1975. The Isle of Mull, Scotland. 54-year old Peter Gibbs, a former Royal Air Force pilot and World War II veteran, has dinner with his girlfriend at the Glenforsa Hotel, but decides to go for an evening flight. After taking off from an adjacent airfield in a Cessna, Gibbs never returns. Four months later, Gibbs’ body is discovered on a hill one mile away from the hotel and his cause of death is determined to be exposure, but the missing aircraft is never found. An enquiry concludes that Gibbs likely crashed the Cessna into the water, swam to shore, and subsequently died on the hill, but there are a number of discrepancies to suggest this scenario would have been impossible. How did Gibbs’ body remain undiscovered on the hill for four months? If he crashed his aircraft, how did he avoid sustaining any serious injuries? What prompted Gibbs to take such a dangerous nighttime flight to begin with? For our final holiday-themed episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore a baffling unexplained death known as “The Great Mull Air Mystery”. Special thanks to listener Alexandra Wasylycia for providing the opening narration for this episode.

Additional Reading:

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/the-riddle-of-the-lost-flight-69672.html

https://mysteriousuniverse.org/2015/10/the-great-mull-air-mystery/

https://www.historicmysteries.com/peter-gibbs-great-mull-air-mystery/

https://mysteryinksite.wordpress.com/2016/03/01/the-mull-air-mystery/

“The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon! Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content.

Click here to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes.

Click here to listen to the podcast on Stitcher.

Click here to subscribe to the podcast on Google Play Music.

Click here to subscribe to the podcast on Spotify.

The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.

All music is composed by Vince Nitro.