CRASH INTO ORCHARD

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 104, 23 December 1931, Page 5

CRASH INTO ORCHARD

(Press Assn.-

PILOT AND PASSENGERS SAFE BUT MACHINE DAMAGED "SMITHY" NOT ON BOARD

-By Telegraph — Copyright).

Rec. Dec. 22, 5.5 p.m. LONDON, Monday Mr Allen, co-pilot of the mail 'plane Southern Star, in which were two passengers, including Mrs. Cooper, of Southampton, was flying at Hamble, after re-conditioning at Croyden in readiness for the mail flight to Australia to-morrow, when he lost his way in the mist, and made a forced landing in a field at Crocker Hall in Kent. The -machine struck the trees and damaged the propellor and undercarriage. The occupants were uninjured, but were slightly shaken. An eye-witness said the pilot would have made a perfect landing if the trees had not intervened. The Southern Star landed in an orchard. A later report says that the undercarriage is smashed, one engine is half buried in the ground, and the wings are out of alignment. The Police are guarding the wreckage throughout the night. Engineers will dismantle the machine to-morrow for repairs, which will entail complete rebuilding. Mist Hides Beacons. Later details say that Mr. Allen left Hamble at 3.30 in the afternoon with two hours supply of petrol, which normally is ample for a short flight. Darkness set ' in and he flew iijto murk in which it was impossible to see the neon beacon at Croyden, or flares reaching 1200 feet, which were fired when he did not appear. Mr. Allen thereupon flew in an easterly direction to come in on the Continential route. 1 He informed Air Commodore Kingsford Smith, by means of his wireless telephone, that he was flying above Orpington, and that the petrol was fast being consumed. Mr. Allen decided to land on the first seemingly level patch, but discovered it was an orchard, into which he crashed, bumping into a fairly large tree. He shut off the engines, which are intact. The wheels were tprn off, the undercarriage was smashed a!nd .the fusilage straineid and otherwise damaged by a small tree, and the propellor was broken. Mr. Allen assured Air Commodore Kingsford Smith that there was no major damage and that the wings were intact.

'Never Free From Worries" When asked if he was hurt, Mr. Allen. replied, "You cannot hurt a Scotsman, except his feelings." Air Commodore Kingsford Smith said he hoped that the delay will not exceed four or five days. He is determined to get the air mail to Australia. "I am never free from worries when I am on the ground," he said; "and I am glad when I am able to rise and recover in the air. The Post Office has not yet arranged for the mail to go by another 'plane. Air Commodre Kingsford Smith has had several informal talks with the Air Ministery. It is understood that owing to the absence of Colonel Brinsmead, Director of Civil Aviation in the Commonwealth, whft was injured in the Dutch air liner smash, no further concrete pl'ans for a regular Australian air service were formulated. /