WHIRLWIND ON COAST

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 451, 5 June 1937, Page 4

WHIRLWIND ON COAST

FIGSTY DEMOLISHED Rumour Of Aeroplane Crash I A rumour which circulated In StratI ford yesterday, to th e effect that an I aeroplane had crashed as Urenul I and that the pilot and passengerl had been killed, apparently originated from the behaviour of a whirlwind which came in from the’ sea and struck the coast north ot Urenui. Black, low-lying clouds in the district accompanied a severe thunderstorm nnd It seems it was the coincidence of a vivid flash of lightning ■ wiith the passage of the flying pigsty ' that led to the impression that the [wings had been struck from an aeroplane. The observer who reported the matter to the police et New Plymouth thought he saw two wings tall from a silver-coloured fuselage. The New Plymouh Aero Slub was < not expecting any arrivals and inquiri ies through the North Island account- | ed for all machines. Nevertheless the [ informant had been certain it was an [aeroplane he saw and Mr J. Powell, [ inspector of police, instructed ConI stable F. Lemm to go from Whiitaria to the scene of the supposed wreck. The constable’s inquiries in the vicinity and a thorough search of the broken bush country established, however, that it was the pigsty that crashed. Like a column of mist reaching high into the sky the whirlwind came | in from the sea to strike the coast at 9.15 a.m. north of Urenul. Though it was between five and six miles my residents of Urenul heard it plainly. Some thought the noise whs ir.lade by an approaching thurlderstorm, while others looked up expecting to see an aeroplane with a particularly rowdy engine.