GROUND PARTIES REACH SCENE OF CRASH

Chronicle (Levin), 19 March 1949, Page 5

GROUND PARTIES REACH SCENE OF CRASH

y t Bodies Of Victims Brought Out To Waikanae y All 15 persons aboard the ill-fated National Airways Lodestar airliner ZK-AHX (Kereru), which crashed in the hills near Waikanae yesterday morning, were killed. The aircraft, which was on a routine flight from Whenuapai to Paraparaumu, was last reported over the mouth of the Otaki River. It failed to arrive at Paraparaumu, where it was due at 9.41 a.m. An Auster plane later discovered the blazing wreckage of the Lodestar 2000 feet up in the hills to the northeast of Waikanae. The first ground rescue party reached the scene of the crash about .8 a.m. this morning and found all 15 bodies. Within two hours searchers had left with the first bodies on the journey back to base, established at the homestead on Mr. K..^ D. Jones 1200-acre farm, situated just off the main highway about three miles north of Waikanae. By 12.30 p.m. the bodies of all the victims had been brought out. It appeared that the aircraft struck a forest giant, swerved and crashed into the hillside about 200 feet below the top of the ridge. Parts were scattered over a considerable area, while the fuselage, which was upside down,* was badly burnt out. Death for the occupants must have been instantaneous.

A full realisation of the swift and unexpected tragedy which overtook the Lodestar was given to members of the ground parties . on reaching the scene of the crash today, says a message from the "Chronicle" reporter who ac« companied them. The main party, numberihg upwards of 70, set out from the base camp on the property of Mr. Jones about 6.15 a.m. It was much larger than that which undertook the search yesterday, and was in charge of Sergeant W. S. Hughes, of Otaki, assisted by Sergeant H. Scanlon, of Wellington, and Sergeant J. H. Graham, of Palmerston North. The party was led by a local farmer, Mr. Percy Russell. The first indications that the party was reaching the scene were the finding of pieces of wreckage and the bodies of the pilot and co-pilot, both of whom had apparently been thrown clear. Beside one of them was the log book and oil fuel gauge. Passengers' luggage was found a few yards 011. Then the main wreckage was loeated a short distance away. It was.in a clearing in the otherwise dense bush, and was eompletely burnt out. The bodies of the passengers were in close proximity. Apduous Climb The finding of the wreckage was the culmination of an arduous climb in open country and a difficult descent through dense bush. Profiting from yesterday's experience, the trip was made in quick time. The weather was fine, though a wind reaching gale force at times added to the difiiculties. An Auster aircraft was over the area at 7.20 a.m. to direct the searchers to the wreckage, but by that time the party was in dense bush* and found trouble in sighting the machine. Adding to the obstacles at this stage was the fact that the personnel with radio equipment had not overtaken the searchers. However, by continually circling and revving its engine over the locality of the crash, the Auster finally guided the party to the scene. The port wing of the Lodestar appeared to have hit a 60-foot rimu, causing the machine to swerve sharply to the left. It then crashed into the hillside about 200 feet below the top of the ridge, fininshing on its back and bursting into flames. First At Scene Actually the first persons to -paeh the wreckage were ti Tessrs A. Jenkins and T. ' Wilmshurst, two Te Horo farmers, who went in from behind Mr. Bradbury's homestead. Two shepherds, one of whom was Mr. N. Blair, of Te Horo, sighted the wreckage early this morning and cooperated in. leading the main party in. •' Although the first arrivals reported that the wreckage was still bjurning this morning, by the time the main party had reac-^.-d it the fire had subsided. i* After 9he arrival of the main body of searchers a small party was formed and, guided by Mr. Bryce Jones, a son of

Mr. J. K. Jones, collected the stretchers and walkie-talkie equipment cached in the vieinity last night. The radio equipment was set up and put into operation within a short space of time. Under the supervision of the police and airways officials the area was partly cleared with axes and slashers, and satchels, personal belongings, aircraft parts and mail salvaged where possible. Captain Harvey was directing operations on behalf of National Airways. Shortly before 10 a.m. stretcher bearers left with the first bodies on the laborious journey back to the base camp, arriving about 11.45. Other parties followed in quick succession and by 12.30 all the bodies had been brought out. Ahead of the parties trampers and- other helpers cleared a narrow track as quickly as possible through the thick bush. . Exhausting Trip On emerging from the bush the parties had an almost sheer descent through open country to base, this section taking almost an hour. It was here that the greatest difficulty was experienced. The going was much harder and the bearers were severely buffeted by the gale-force wind. Every step was a hard battle won. At times it was almost impossible to go forward, but inch by inch the parties descended. At times anchor ropes had to be utilised to keep the stretchers and members of the parties from being blown down the hillside. The men were com'nletely exhausted on reaching base. As the parties arrived the members were provided with hot tea and food by Mr. and Mrs. Jones, who throughout the operations have rendered :nvaluable assistance. Pressmen and Press photographers assigned to the search at all times received the utmost co-operation from the Police ,in charge of activities. The Inspector of Air Ac-

cidents, Wing Commander Kean, arrived at the base camp about noon today^ and lmmediately proceeded in to che spot where the Lodestar crashed. Yesterday's Attempts Dense mist which blanketed the higher, reaches of the mountains, coupled with a paucity of information, prevented ground parties from making anything like a satisfactory or adequate search for ' the Lodestar before nightfall yesterday. Operations were, therefore-j abandoned until daylight . today. Although the wreckage of the aircraft was sighted and identified by the pilot of an Auster aircraft at 12.15 p.m., the main search party. did not reach the area in which the plane was thought to be until 4.30 p.m. It was impossible for the searchers to se"an prop-" erly even the clear ground,' let alone the bush country in which the wreckage was sighted from the air. The remains of the Lodestar' ' wero-* ' reportfed' Mrorh' "the air to be shattered and in flames, and although the urgency of the recovery operations was uppermost in the minds of the searchers as darkness descended, it was appar: ent to all that any further attempts to locate the plane -by land would be doomed to failure. It was' then decided to abandon the search until today and arrangements were put in hand to reinf'orce the searchers to a numerical strength of 100. Sergeant W. S. Hughes, of Otaki-, who was accompanled by Constable Hobbs, was in charge of the rescue operations.