GERMAN AIRWAY DISASTER

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 158, 24 September 1927, Page 1

GERMAN AIRWAY DISASTER

AMBASSADOR TO AMERICA KILLED FIVE OTHERS LOSE LIVES IN CRASH By Cable. —Press Association. — Copyright. Received 11 a.m. BERLIN, Friday. THE worst crash in the history of German civil aviation occurred at Schletz, killing "the German Ambassador to the United States, Baron von Maltzan, and five others.

r £HE others killed were: Herr Von Arnin, mechanical director of the Luft Hansa. Herr Roeil, director of the Reigh railways. The pilot, who had flown the route for months. The mechanic, who lived for a short time after the crash. The pilot’s apprentice. The huge passenger plane, which had been engaged for some months by the Luft Hansa’s Berlin-Munich service, was en route to Munich. Passing over Schletz, the plane developed a defect. The pilot appeared to try to laud. Seme say the wing broke off, others that an explosion followed a shoot of flame from the engine, after which the wing became detached. From a height of 500 feet the plane spun earthwards, and overturned in a blaze. There was a 300 ft inferno when she crashed to pieces, under which the occupants were imprisoned. All were fearfully scorched and mutilated. The mechanic was just alive, and soon expired. The others, apparently, were instantly killed. The cause of the disaster is a

mystery. The plane was overhauled before sailing, and certificated as airworthy. She had not entered the treacherous mountain zone when she collapsed. Baron Von Maltzan was on holiday from America. He had conferred with President Hindenburg and the Cabinet, and had arranged to return to New York on October 7. He was on his way to Munich to rejoin his wife and little daughter. It is recalled that Baron von Maltzan came into diplomatic prominence as the originator of the Rapallo Treaty. He had a disagreement in 1914 with the Kaiser, who turned down a proposal to cede Tsingtao to Japan and prevent her entry into the war. —A. and N.Z. Adolf Georg Otto Freiherr von Maltzan was born at Klein-Varchow, Mecklen-burg-Schwerin, on July 31, 1877. He was educated at the Universities of Bonn and Breslau. He was appointed counsellor of the German Legation at Peking in 1912; representative of the Foreign Office to Estland and Letland, 1919-21; ministerial director at the Foreign Office, Berlin, 1919-22; Secretary of State at the Foreign Office, 1922-25; Ambassador to the United States, March 12, 1925. The Treaty of Rapallo was signed by Italy and Yugoslavia on November 12, 1920. It settled various territorial disputes arising out of the Great War.