AIRPLANE IN PARK

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 382, 16 June 1928, Page 23

AIRPLANE IN PARK

LANDS BETWEEN WICKETS CHILDREN’S WILD RUSH Cricketers and children in Battersea Park had to scatter when an airplane made a forced landing there. A light plane was being piloted by Captain White, chief instructor at Stag-lane airdrome, Edgware, from Stag-lane to Croydon. Over Chelsea engine trouble developed, and Captain White made for the nearest open space. “I did not mind the landing, but it was the horrible fear of hitting someone that nearly unnerved me,” he said afterwards. Thrill Over River “1 was making for Croydon, where I was to give pupils instruction in night flying. As I approached the river the engine began to fire unevenly. White smoke shoe out, and I think there was trouble with one of the valves. “I had just enough momentum to carry me over the river, and then I looked round for a landing place. Except for Battersea Park it seemed to be a mass of houses, and I was reluctant to land in the park because of the crowds of people I could see there. ‘‘lt turned out to be the only possible spot in the district, so I planed down. I made for the east side of the park because that seemed to be the least crowded, and, just missing a low fence. I made a, perfect landing without touching anybody. Across the Pitches “For a landing place the ground is beautiful. As I taxied up the park I ran between several cricket stumps, but I was careful not to knock any of tffem down.” Within ten minutes of the landing there was a rush of excited children. The cricketers managed to clear a space for themselves and resume their game. The airplane was undamaged. Crowd Watching Cricket One of the keepers said that the airplane was seen overhead just before 8 o’clock. “There was a crowd of several hundred people, including many children, watching cricket,” he said. “The pilot brought the machine down right at the far end of the field—he would actually have landed on the bowling green but for a tree which was in his way. “People scattered in all directions, but no one was hurt. The pilot landed so smoothly that it Is almost impossible to see the A marks on the ground.”