A SYDNEY SEAPLANE TRAGEDY.

Shannon News, 31 July 1925, Page 3

A SYDNEY SEAPLANE TRAGEDY.

THE WII)GEON’S NOSE DIVE. CREW’S BREATHLESS ESCAPE. The Sydney-built seaplane Widgeon nose-dived into the waters of Botany Bay last week —dived down until only her rudder planes were above water.

And cooped up in her tiny cockpit and cabin, imprisoned feet below the surface, were four men. Their escape was extraordinary, even in it service famed for its thrills. The crash was a matter of a split second. The seaplane shot off the crest of a wave, lifted clean out of the water, hurtled across a trough, and (hen a big “white horse” smashed Info the hull. \ The hull was travelling at great speed. There was some of the titanic force of the Pacific behind the wave. Naturally, the hull suffered. About two square feet of the fabric was smashed in. In a flash a torrent of water tore into the cockpit. Cockpit and cabin were flooded, and down dived the bow. With it went all but a tew feet —the tail end—of the hull. With it went Squadron-Commander Wackett (the pilot), Colonel Brinsmead, who was his guest, and the two mechanics —Sergeant Becker and Air-craftsman Cropp. ' Theirs was a terrible plight. The fierce suddenness of the accident was bad enough. But even worse was the concussion of the nose-dive, the rush of the invading water, and last, and worst of all, the imprisonment below water.

’ But the flying man is trained to meet emergencies: coolness is just as much a virtue of his as daring. And the “Widgeon” had four good flyers on board. They got clear. In the dim underwater light each of them forced his way to the narrow opening that led from the interior of the seaplane, and made his way to the surface. And to safety. Wackett was the last to escape. Perhaps it was due to the maritime tradition of the captain being the last man to leave his post . . . The “Widgeon” is a sea craft. The whole incident—the crash and the escape' —was only a matter of seconds. But they were long, long seconds to the anxious watchers ashore. They were only a quarter of a mile from the scene of the crash. They saw It. They heard it. And then the submerged hulk, without a sign of life, suggested a terrible toll. That was until somebody equipped with binoculars saw four heads over the edge of a wing. Then, to dispel further fears, the R.A.A.F. launch — an emergency unit specially sent from Melbourne for the “Widgeon" trials—nulled up to the stricken seaplane and four men were assisted on board. Colonel Brinsmead was slightly cut about the hand! otherwise none of 'be quartette was injured. Thus ended the first of the “Widgeon’s” official trials —tribulations Owing to adverse weather conditions, the former were fragmentary. But after the morning’s flotation trials, when, veiled in a fan of spume, the “Widgeon” had taxied along the top of a heavy swell. Commander Wackett expressed himself as being quite satisfied with his creation. So did f’olonel Brinsmead. He said that the workmanship, would more than favnurablv compare with the world’s best •in opinion echoed by most of the flioresent, V-w- naturally. Commander WaekeM was disappointed at Iho crash. But not disheartened. Very rarely does an exneriment of so technical a natu”" the “Widgeon” succeed at the outset.