TWO AIRMEN KILLED

Chronicle (Levin), 13 September 1948, Page 5

TWO AIRMEN KILLED

Press Association)

Flew Too Low Over House Of Parents .

( Per

AUCKLAND, Sept. 12. Two brothers lost their lives on Satufdav afternooiT when an Auckland Aero Club Tiger Aloth in which they were flying, crashed from a low aititude and burst into flames in a field only a few hundred yards from their f'ather's. home at Puni, Pukekohe. The macliine went into a spin after pefforming two loops, and dived into a liollow just out of siglit of tlie hquse. A11 ambulance driver made a pluclcy attenipt to rescue tlie men from tlie blazing aircrat't but failed. The victims, sons of Air. II. Burrovvs, nurseryiu.au, and Coronet- for the Pukekohe district, were: — Harry Burrows, pilot of the aircrat't, aged 30, painter and widower, of Newton. Desniond Roy Burrows, aged 29, single, commereial traveller of the same address. Harry Burrows, wlio completed his flying training in the aero club within the last 18 months, took off from Alangere aerodrome witWiis brother in tlie aircraft, at 1.40 p.nSten Saturday# and shortly before 2 iTelock they' arrived over tlieir f'ather's house about four miles to the west of Pukekohe and on the lower slopes'of the Pukekohe hill. According. to an eye-witness, the machine ilew very low over the Burrows' house and seemed to clear tlie high tension wires at tlie haek of the house bv only a small margin. Air. Burrows and his wif'e, stepmother of the two men, and a daughter-in-law, were home at tlie time and they watclied the machine pass over. A pillow was drojqied from the plane into tlie grounds of tlie house and as the men waved f ro 111 the coekpits, the macliine lieaded towards Tuakau. Grainiug heiglit, it cireled and returned over the house, the men waving again to those watcliing below. Mrs. T.- E. Otter, a neighbonr of tlie Burrows, saw the aircraft climb after it passed over and then perl'orni two successlve loops. She said it appeared to be levelling ol'f after the second ioop when it started to t'all and it caiue down in a' slow spiral. There was 110 sound from the iuotor. T he ' machine was watclied by Air. Burrows as it was falling but was finally obscured from view by liigh trees. It crashed at about 2 o'clock against a high barberry liedge in a vegetable paddock on the property of Air. ('. W. Dazeley. The sound of the crasli could be heard more tlian half a mile away and men, women and cliild reu from houses nearby raced across the tiekls to tlie scene. Eeveral of theia had seen that a crash was inevitable as Ihe machine began to fall from a low aititude. The plane was burning so iierceiy when nearby residents arrived, tliat they had to staiul by helplessly. The two nieu were still in tlieir coekpits and there was 110 sign of life. Meanwhile the police and St. Johu Ambulance Association depot at Pukekohe had been telephoned and au ambulance driver, G. Tucker, arrived shortly afterward. Ile took a flrc1 extiuguisher from tlie ambulance and attempted to light the flames from as close range as possible but they had too strong a hold. Ile was joined a few mi nutcs latei by the Pukekohe Fire Brigade. H atched by a crowd of about 50, they extinguished the tire with chentical puinps. By then, however, only the metal framework of the aircraft remained. The bodies were unrecognisable.