LATER

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 3, Issue 645, 25 September 1933, Page 5

LATER

Blenheim, Sunday. Maindonald is suffering from severe concussion and other injuries and his condition is regarded as grave. Cummings has a broken nose and othpr facial injuries and many cuts and abrasions but his condition is not regarded as serious. Both are suffering severely* from shock. Pig-Jumping Course The pilot, Willis, who escaped comparatively lightly, states that owing to something jamming the elevator controls he was unable to do anything except to fly more or less level, which he achieved by putting on bursts of the engine every time the nose of the machine fell. In effect, the machine covered some ten miles pigjumping through the air, failing every time the engine ceased and bucking up as the full throttle was opened. He considers that he could have kept going in this fashion until the petrol rau out, but ultimately after a vain attempt to free tbe control, decided to effect a crash landing. The machine struck the ground at a speed of 80 m.p.h. and turned ov£r several times. Experienced pilots consider that in the circumstancfes, Wallis did well in obviating -a ig-reater disaster. The Director of Air Servipes, Squadron-leader T. M'. Wilkes, and Flight-Lieutenant Buckley, arrived hy air from Christchurch and ins'peeted the wreckage with a view to an inquiry into the crash.