AIR SMASH

Hokitika Guardian, 22 July 1930, Page 5

AIR SMASH

' ALL ABOARD KILLED. t' ' , ; INCLUDING MARQUIS DUFFER IN. t United Press Association—By Electric Telegraph.—Copyright.! (Received this uay at 10.30 a.m.) •’■•i . LONDON, 1 July 24. ■> / The British air taxi tronx Le Touj/ T quet crashed near Gravesend. Four men and two' - women were killed. ■» ‘ LONDON, July 21. Villagers at Meopham near Gravesend saw the big aeroplane wobbling badly as it approached from the , Ohixnnel in pouring rain. An explosion occurred and pieces of wreckage; came floating down. The machine crashed into an orchard The . passengers xvere prominent, members ,of society. All were killed instantly. ■ The-victims were:— , -■ Marquis of-Dufferin and Ava Sir . Edward Ward. Viscountess Edniam. Mrs Henrick Loeffler. . : Pilot, Colonel G. Henderson. I /, Second, Pilot, K. Shearing. r- The. machine was an all-metal Junker belonging to. Henderson of the Plying, Bureau, who lent it to Wa-lcot Air Lines, in order to cope with the pressure on the service. . , : , The five Ibodies were terribly mutilated and were found in the orchard. Henderson lay nearby still strapped in. the pilot’s seat, but he expired as the rescuers arrived. The main part of the fuselage with one wing s attached, . fdl into tlie garden of : a (bungalow, Tlie engine crashed on the drive of an adjoining hbiise., A wing fluttered down two mites away. j Other parts were widely scattered Petrol tanks. were picked up intact, which with the absence of signs of fire, makes it difficult to account for r the reports tiiai ari explosion occur~4_ red. .- . , - '-V ; ' : j The 'orchard Ipresonted a pjhaistJy spectacle; Parts of tlie bodies were strewn in ’ail directions, rendering identification most difficult. I ! (Official Wireless.) (Received this day at 11 a.m./ ■ RUGBY, July 21. The Junker machine belonged to Colonel Henderson, who was using it on ' behalf of Walcot Air Lines, which ' operated an air taxi service from Croydnhd; ’Tt(lia'd earlier in the day . crossed Vrv to Le Touquet and brought one party to ; Croydon, and had then set off again to fetch Lcrd Dufferin and , friends. ;; ; Tfie crash occurred on the return 1 joiirhey. 1 The flying cbriditions had ■ been extremely difficulfthroughout the ,-■ day! ‘ 4 • ' ■ ’* ’ v '' ; ' Lord Dufferin, who was 55, was the : first Speaker of the Senate of Northern Ireland, having held the post since 1921;. He had a distinguished Army career os had also Sir Edward Ward, . who during the War was a Captain ot the Grenadier Guards. Viscountess -Ednam was a sister ol • i the. Duke of Sutherland and wife of the heir to Earl Dudley. She and Mrs Loeffler were prominent figures in London social life. LONDON. July 21. Mrs Loeffler was a well-known West Eild hostess. She often "ntertn-ined the Prince of Wales. She was returning from a party at Le Torquet where she entertained, among others, Colonel Piersleigh, the Prince of Wales’ equerry.