Her Error Killed Two

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 368, 24 February 1937, Page 7

Her Error Killed Two

WBNT TO WRONG AIRPORT

A tragedy of the millionth chance was revealed at the Blackpool inquest on Mrs Miller, of Ramsey (Isle oi Man), and First Officer Charles O’Connell, of London. They were killed when an air liner took off in dense fog, crashed into a hangar, and caught fire. The millionth chance was this—Mtj Miller, anxious to return to her husband and child, went first to the wrong aerodrome. This caused a delay in the departure of the air liner. Flying conditions, which before had ben normal, had become dangerous by the time the pilot, O’Connell, took off. Mrs Miller'■ husband broke down at the inquest, and left the witness-box sobbing. A ground engineer said it was the worst fog he had experienced, and he had never known an aeroplane to take off under such conditions. It was stated that visibility was not more than 10 yards. Yet when Air John Howley, the Traffic Officer at Stanley Park, asked O'Connell if he thought it was advisable to leave, the pilot replied: “It is quite all right. It is only low stuff. 1 will be out of it in no time.” A verdict of “Death from misadventure” was returned in both cases.