AEROPLANE FATALITY

Hokitika Guardian, 8 July 1926, Page 3

AEROPLANE FATALITY

' [Australian & N.Z. Cable Association.l LONDON, July 7. The Daily Chronicle’s aviation correspondent accepts the explanation that Elliott, Cobham’s mechanic, was ' shot. by. a rifle bullet by an unseen V. marksman below, and that lie was not the victim of a defect in the engine. The shot penetrated the cabin and struck Elliott while .he was attending to the engine. An official of the l)c Hnviland Comapany expresses the opinion that, while the seaplane was flying low, following the river Euphrates, someone on the bank took deliberate aim, and that the roar of the engines prevented Cobham from bearing the shot. The bnl- . let evidently broke the petrol pipe leading to the main tank, and gave i rise to the rumours that Elliott had been injured by a broken pipe. He was clout bless unaware that he ha> heen shot, and imagined that the pipe had burst. Cobham himself had no clear idea till at Basra. SYDNEY, July 7. The Federal Minister of Defence, in expressing regret at Elliott’s death, said he hoped that Cobham’s effort was merely deferred and that the arrangements for the flight made with the Australian Government would stand as '• at present. COB HAM’S FLIGHT. (Received this day at 8 n.m.) LONDON, July 7. De Ilaviland’s state They do not desire the abandonment of Cobham’s flight but are leaving the final decision to Cobham. PRAISE FOE- ELLIOTT. (Received this day at 10.15 a.m.) LONDON, July 7. No mother could have cared for her baby with greater solicitude than Elliott watched the engine, says the “Evening Standard’s” aviation correspondent. He went about the job with a cpiiet srriifc and always kept in the background. He did not think of the perils of the trip because be and Cobham. had great mutual faith in each other and a great personal bond. No two men had flown such distances together and there will be a deep sadness in Cobham’s heart. Elliott was an uncanny mechanician and regarded the great roaring Jaguar as something human. ITe could tell from a sound the slightest variations from normal, and tracked down the cause unerringly. He was the greatest favourite in Staglane whence he came after a long postal service with Instone ! ' airline. He previously served with '•>. distinction with the Royal Air Force. He was unmarried hut has a widowed mother at Hendon and one brother.