PLANE CRASHES NEAR TOWN

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 448, 2 June 1937, Page 4

PLANE CRASHES NEAR TOWN

PASSENGER KILLED INSTANTLY PILOT ESCAPES WITH INJURIES TRAGIC END TO WELLINGTON - NEW PLYMOUTH FLIGHT A Miles Hawk monoplane, the property of the Wellington . Aero Club, crashed on Mr H. Ashcroft’s Pembroke Road farm property, about four miles from Stratford, a few minutes before 10 o’clock this morning, the passenger, Mr P. J. Nathan, of Christchurch, being killed instantaneously. The pilot, Mr C. H. Dunford, of Wellington, was removed io the Stratford Hospital suffering from a compound fracture of _ the left ankle and bruises to his head and face. The plane was completely wrecked. The ’plane left Wellington this morning at 7.55 for New Plymouth, and the crash occurred approximately two hours later. i 1 After Pembroke Road had been passed, a heavy fog and a strong northerly wind were encountered, and conditions became so bad that the pilot decided to turn back. The ’plane turned and just missed striking the telephone wires, visibility being very poor. It then struck a hillock on the farm a short distance from the roadside, the marks of the wheels showing where the machine first made contact with the earth on its last journey. The land round about rises toward the mountain, and where the ’plane crashed is 1500 feet above sea level, and apparently the pilot thought that he had plenty of altitude. _ . Obsv.-vers state that when the ’plane hit the ground it rose again, but the impact must have damaged a wing and the under-carriage- for all control was lost. Fifty yards further on a wheel was tom off by a wire fence and pieces of wreckage, including portions of the propellor, marked the course of the ’plane until it crashed to pieces in a gully some three hundred yards from where it first struck the ground. The engine was 40 feet away from the wreckage. No one saw the actual crash, but the noise was heard by Messrs H. Ashcroft junr. and George Ashcroft, and they rushed to the scene. When they arrived, Mr Dunford was endeavouring to extricate himself from the wreckage. Mr Nathan had received shocking injuries and was dead. The police and Dr. D. Steven were communicated with, and Mr Dunford was removed in the ambulance to the Stratford Hospital. The body of Mr Nathan was taken to the morgud. i Souvenir hunters were observed securing pieces of the ’plane, but were prevented by the police, who advised that nothing could be touched until an inspection had been made by the authorities. It was expected that the ’plane would be salvaged this afternoon after inspection ,and will be taken to the New Plymouth Aerodrome. The ’plane ZK-AC2 was present at the opening of the Stratford Aerodrome on Coronation Day, the pilot being Mr Eric Lloyd. The week previously, on Tuesday, May 4, the monoplane, piloted by Mr H. E. Walker, made the first official landing on the aerodrome, bringing Mr A. E. Gibson, Aerodromes Inspector to the Public Works Department, to inspect the ground in connection with the issue of a license for its general use. It was painted aluminum gold and black and had a cruising speed of 135 to 140 miles an hour. The engine was the power unit of the original monoplane in which the late Squadron-Leader M. C. McGregor and Mr Walker competed in the London-Melbourne centenary air race of October, 1934.