DIVE TO DEATH

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 845, 13 December 1929, Page 1

DIVE TO DEATH

Flying-boat Crashes at Milford

PILOT AND MECHANIC KILLED

Eye-Witnesses’ Account of Tragedy

WITH a suddenness that horrified onlookers at Milford Beach last evening;, the new Dornier-Libelle flying-boat, engaged on a test flight, crashed from a low altitude near the shore, killing its two occupants. The men who dived to meet their deaths in a wrecked and half -sunken machine were :

Captain D. E. Harkness, DSC., aged 34, lecturer in civil engineering at the Auckland University College, and Mr. Charles Goldsbro, aged 38, mechanic, of St. Heliers Bay.

The tragedy took place at 5.40 p.m., but salvage difficulties were such that nearly three hours passed before the wreckage was beached.

1 Captain Harkness, who was a marrted man with two young children, irai in charge ot the Dornier-Libelle. It Is said that he was flying a plane ot this type for the first time. Tha crash occurred when the mathine was at a height of approximately ♦DO feet, and a little over a-quarter o( t mile from the beach, a little south of Milford Road. According to several eye-witnesses the dying-boat lost height as it sped along the line of the beach from the aouth, some trouble being occasioned, aeemlngly, by faulty engine running. The pilot banked and swung to come up Into the light southerly breeie, but the nose of the machine ripped and a spin of extraordinary rapidity developed, ending when the engine, wings and front of the hull struck the water with a crash and in a tountaln ot spray. It is considered that the occupants were drowned following their being incapacitated by severe injuries, caused by the eruuhing in the tangle of wreckage which pinned them in their tests. Shortly after the plane strucx the water one of the occupants was seen by s watcher with powerful glasses to be making feeble attempts to drag himself out. His head and arm uppsared beside one of the stub wings but he sank back. Neither man was strapped In the cockpit. The straps were lying loose when the bodies were recovered, the u:en being held in place by the mass o! twisted metal about their legs, and hf the centre of the wing, which had crushed down from above. The attention of residents In all tarts of the North Shore was first trawn to the flying-boat last evening, liecause of the low altitude of its night Earlier in the evening, when Capaia Harkness was preparing for the fight, he made it clear to a wouldbe passenger that the trip was to be purely of a test nature. On Wednesday short; flights were carried out in the harbour following a period during which the plane was laid up, awaiting Javourable tides and weather. Though built for three passengers, it was found after assembly and initial tests that the Dornier-I.lbelle had considerable difficulty in lifting its full load. As a result there had been a number of ground tests and adjustments. This morning Major Isitt told The Sun that he did not think the propeller on the wrecked machine was the one with which It was fitted originally. tragic flight begins Last evening's tragic flight, began about 5.30 o'clock, when the little "■aft swept over the harbour and Passed across to the gulf between Mount Victoria and North Head, "’ateliers remarked that it was flying Particularly low and. to one, it seemed that the machine was labouring. "hen the plane passed over Cheltenham the engine was running perh flttle before, a watcher from 'he battery at North Head heard the engine missing, and others who foliowed the course of the machine further along the coast also detected breaks in the regular beat of the exhaust. Only about a dozen persons were °h the beach when the Dornier-Libelle ®*de its appearance there, the majortf of residents being engaged at their vening meal. Among those who ob',a coming were: Captain H. H. Sergeant, harbour muster. Mr. G. J. Poor, a nearby resident. v “ r - Stan Bacon, a member of the ‘'■ilford Life-Saving Club. Mr- G. E. Read. ov 9 tragedy was enacted before the I 9 9?! at least three of these watch.™~~GaPtaiu Sergeant, who was hav si.k a ’ Bacon, who followed the *?■ unti l the machine struck the ‘■“race of the water, and Mr. Read, 989 equally close observation was busted from first to last by a pair of *"j*erful binoculars. Mr. Poor apat the door of his house at the Kent when the machine dived. „„ VERY LOW FLIGHT int , m the time the plane came Doe from the direction of Devonsiia k was flying very low,” Mr. Bacon Shi morning. In the main his j_ verified the full report rushed BVO* SBecial edition of The Sun last eT enmg, ia h* 14 ap P , ' oac hed it was keeping linvi* t 0 **i e shore and seemed to be a u™ a ** the time. Suddenly it rose aav th an< * *'irned steeply. I should tha„ tße height then was no more 0 feet. The nose dipped and it it » v DtO a qt |lc k. cork-screw spin. tr or kßcrewed into the water with a tnuclf adous splash and pitched over wide-down.” ,1, aßta iP Sergeant, with his wife and dp filter and son-in-law, had just sat *t to dinner in the porch of a house

in Audrey Street, at the South end of Milford Beach.

The porch looks out over the sea. and the view of the tragedy was uninterrupted.

“When the flying-boat first came into view it was coming from Takapuna, half a mile to seaward and flying at about 400 feet high,” he says. “When opposite Milford Beach she appeared to be turning to go farther out to sea. The -plane got partly round, not quite half way, when she

suddenly appeared to turn on her right side. Immediately afterward she nosedived toward the water.” In Captain Sergeant’s opinion the pilot made a desperate effort to right his machine and he straightened her slightly when about 150 to 200 feet off the water. Evidently it was too late, for a few seconds afterward the machine struck the water with terrific force, sending up a column of water. The whole thing was over in a few seconds. Immediately the tragedy occurred Captain Sergeant telephoned to the Harbour Board offices to send out the launch Orere and to Hobsonville to inform the officials there. He later went off to the wrecked machine in a Milford Surf Club’s boat In fompany with Mr. Chandler. As soon as the Orere arrived Captain Sergeant transferred to her and directed operations with grappling Irons. WATCHED WITH GLASSES Mr. Read is positive that the pilot was wrestling with definite engine trouble as the machine approached the beach across the bay. “I heard the engine backfire three times, loudly and distinctly,” he said. “Watching through my glasses I observed that the machine seemed to be out of control. It then appeared to me that the pilot, realising the altitude he was losing, tried to turn into the wind. The plane banked steeply and spun down. There was a terrible crash and splash when it hit the water and turned over. “I watched the hull and saw what I was sure was a man's head and arm appear for a few moments above one of the stubby -wings. He seemed to be making an attempt to get out but he sank back. I do riot care to say much about this point, but if it is true that the men were not strapped in, I am more than certain that I saw correctly.” Mr Poor said that the wrecked machine floated for about ten nimutes after hitting the water. He, Mr. H. C, Abbott, and a boy named Hunan secured a dinghy and rowed out to the wreck. YOUNG MAN’S EFFORT In the meantime Mr. Bacon had secured a boat and rowed out alone

dived down a distance of about 6ft and, locating one of the occupants, pulled at his arm but without result. The body was hopelessly wedged and Mr. Bacon returned to the surface, where he was joined by Messrs. Abbott and Poor.

A little later dozens of small craft had put out from the beach, and were surrounding the machine. The sea was flat calm but nothing could be done to free the men, as it was obvious that the wreckage was on the point of sinking. An attempt was made to right the plane, and the huge crowd that had gathered on Milford Beach watched as a line, brought out in one of the boats, was attached to the tall. Several of those in swimming costumes stood on one wing with the object of swinging the machine over but this, combined with the weight of the engine, and the crushed cabin-front resulted in the ’plane sinking in about 30ft of water.

Efforts were then postponed until the arrival of the Harbour Board launch Orere. Captain Sergeant joined Constable Mathieson. of the waterfront police, and Constable Woods, of Takapuna, who had put off from the beach in a dinghy. After considerable difficulty and delay the flying-boat, marked by the line first attached, was located and gripped with grappling irons. When the tail came to the surface valuable assistance was given by three young swimmers, I. Glover, A. Williams and L. Quintal, who dived repeatedly until a stout rope was tied round the rudder. RELEASING THE BODIES The launch then began towing and the machine came to the surface the right way up. However, it was still impossible to release the bodies because of the crushed wing and cockpit. When the machine reached the

beach, more than two hours after the crash, other ropes were attached and willing helpers in the big crowd helped to tow it above high-water mark. Surrounded by curious onlookers who surged close to the wrecked plane despite repeated requests to give plenty of room, workers laboured to release the bodies. It was a long and difficult task, as they were wedged firmly in the wreckage. It was obvious that any attempt at rescue, even had a properly equipped boat been close by when the tragedy occurred, would have been utterly hope-