1999-2026: the two eclipses and the Morgan family's plane accident

LondonIn 1999, coinciding with the total solar eclipse visible in a small strip of the United Kingdom – the first in over seven decades – the Morgan family gathered in St. Davids, in the Welsh county of Pembrokeshire. Among those present were some elderly relatives who remembered the 1927 eclipse. "But, as often happens in the UK, the clouds prevented us from seeing the spectacle. Despite this, the most vivid memory is not of the missed eclipse, but of the family reunion".

About fifty members of the same clan had gathered at the dawn of the new millennium. The photograph from the family album that you can see accompanying this information bears witness to it and keeps alive "the value of that celebration", says Rhys Morgan, 51, and a neighbour of this correspondent. A physicist by training, Rhys is director of strategic competencies and inclusion projects at the Royal Academy of Engineering.

More than a quarter of a century later, the Morgans have another date with the sky this summer. To see the total solar eclipse of August 12, which will be visible from a large area of the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands. Between twenty and twenty-five family members will travel to the port of Pollença for this reason. "What counts, however, is the family reunion", points out Rhys. A reunion, in any case, which is now almost a family custom that they celebrate every two years. In 2024, they had it in Portugal.

"I'm passionate about eclipses – adds Rhys – so when I learned that the next total solar eclipse in Europe would cross Spain, I told my family: 'We have to take advantage of the next holidays and do them in Spain to see it.'" Initially, the reunion was supposed to be in the north of the peninsula: Asturias, Santander, perhaps Galicia. "But with the famous clouds and fog in the north, we were also worried that, once again, we would miss the opportunity to see it. And, besides, finding a house for such a large group hasn't been easy. After all, we've ended up in Mallorca".

The first flight

The Morgan family's relationship with Spain is not new. They travelled there for the first time – and almost the last – in 1978, to spend a week in Fuengirola (Costa del Sol). Rhys, the youngest of the brothers, was 4 years old then. One of his most vivid memories, practically the only one, is of the orange and lemon Fanta: "We didn't have it here, and it was quite a discovery." He went with his parents, Bob and Elaine, and his other three siblings: David (13 years old then), Eluned – until last May, First Minister of Wales –(11 years old) and Philip, aged 9. All four, their partners, and their children will meet in Pollença. Some will come from Wales, others from London, and others from Kenya. The parents, unfortunately, are deceased.

Bob Morgan was an Anglican priest. "We didn't have much money, the Church of Wales didn't pay its clergy very well. And to go on holiday, we used to swap our house for a week with another family's." But in 1978, plans to go to Bournemouth fell through. "Suddenly, my father found himself with nowhere to take the family on holiday."

Fate began to cast its dice. A girl from the heart of the church in charge of Bob Morgan, Lesley Withard, lover of businessman Norman Harvey, owner of petrol stations in Wales, offered them to go with them two to the Costa del Sol. Accommodation and travel were free. They flew from Cardiff to Malaga in the businessman's private plane, a Cessna 421B Golden Eagle II, registration G-BAEI. Harvey himself was piloting it. The reasons for the family conversation have always been the father's moral doubts, as a religious man: Should he accept the offer of a man who committed adultery? Recalling that experience, Rhys makes a bit of a joke as he details what happened on the return flight from Andalusia to Cardiff: "Did God want to punish us?".

How is it going, at least, it gave them a good scare. On Saturday, August 26, 1978, the Cessna took off from Malaga normally. And after crossing practically the entire Peninsula, the pilot wanted to land in Bilbao, where he had to refuel to continue to Wales. But the fog and low clouds complicated the approach to Sondika. Harvey tried three times, according to the official accident report. The altimeter indicated the altitude above sea level, but the fog prevented seeing the coastal cliffs, practically in front. Fortunately, a clearing opened up and when the pilot saw they were heading straight for them, he ascended. But with the flaps deployed and the landing gear prepared, the plane went into a stall and crashed into the grounds of the Punta Galea golf club.

All eight occupants, the six Morgans, the pilot, and the 'girl of the heart,' miraculously escaped death. The businessman and Rhys suffered the most serious injuries. "Because the plane was small, and we were flying with a lot of luggage, I was sitting on my father's lap. My body might have prevented him from more damage. But I could have broken my spinal cord." Rhys spent twelve weeks in Basurto hospital, with his mother, who stayed with him while he recovered from a broken pair of vertebrae.

At the beginning of this year, still as First Minister of Wales, Eluned Morgan officially traveled to the Basque Country, where she met with the Lehendakari, Imanol Pradales. In the private chapter of the visit, Morgan returned to the Punta Galea golf course and also to Basurto hospital, to recall and thank the help they received then, as they had already done with their parents many years before. In 2028, future family vacations already have a destination: the Basque Country. "To commemorate the accident, and to thank that we are still alive, fifty years later," concludes Rhys.

Another story, in this case a much more unfortunate one, is that of the businessman Norman Harvey. Following the scare in the Basque Country, he stopped piloting propeller planes and bought a jet. While piloting it, in another accident, he was killed.