AMAZING ESCAPE

Evening Star, Issue 22458, 1 October 1936, Page 6

AMAZING ESCAPE

This is the story of the most remarkable escape from death recorded in aviation, writes Victor Burnett in the ‘ Sunday Express,’ London. Major R. A. Thornton, a well-known airman, took off from Budapest in his monoplane to fly to Hamburg. He was living the machine from the back cockpit. In the front cockpit, just behind the engine, sat his wife. The weather was good; the engine ivas running perfectly. Suddenly there was a faint bang. Major Thornton looked up and forward to the engine. Then he gasped. There was no engine ! She aircraft ended in a jagged tear beyond the front cockpit. His wife, in front of him, found herself with her feet actually dangling in space. Both pilot and passenger gave up all hope of surviving the accident. Major Thornton wrestled with the controls. Nothing happened. _ The monoplane flew level for an instant, and then slowly began to heel over. Its nose, released from the weight of the engine, rose in the air. Then, losing flying speed, the machine stalled and went over into a flattish spin. “I didn’t feel frightened,” said the pilot. “ I just felt silly and helpless.” At every second both Major and Mrs Thornton expected the nose of the macliine to point straight toward the earth and crash in a high-speed spinning dive. But the dive did not start. The spin did not increase its speed. Then the undercarriage brushed the tree tops. The passengers held on. The aircraft hit the ground with a slight bump. Major and Mrs Thornton climbed out, bruised. They found the missing engine near. The propeller had smashed and tho vibration had torn the engine out of the aeroplane. But their escape is a mystery. Designers say it is a ton-milliou-to-oiie chance.