TRAGEDY AT WIGRAM

Wairarapa Times-Age, 12 May 1939, Page 6

TRAGEDY AT WIGRAM

AIR FORCE OFFICER KILLED TWO OTHERS SERIOUSLY | BURNT. PLANE CRASHES INTO TREE. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) GIIKISTC’IIURC’H, May 11. One officer of the Itoyal New Zealand Air force was killed and two others were seriously burnt when a Vickers X'ihlebeest aeroplane crashed into a tree on the boundary of Wigrain aerodrome tonight, fell to the ground and burst into flames. The machine was about to land after night-flying exorcises. Those involved in the crash were:— Killed. • Acting Pilot Officer Reginald James McCrorie. Injured. \ Pilot Officer William Frederick Dawson, serious burns. Leading Aircraftsman George Henry West, serious burns. Pilot Officer Dawson, who comes from Balclutha, and Leading Aircraftsman West, who comes from Bluff, are in the Christchurch Hospital, and are both on the seriously ill list. Acting Pilot officer McCrorie came from Wanganui. The official account of the accident is that the men were engaged on nightflying training. The Vickers Vildebeest, in which they were flying, hit a tree on the south boundary of the 'aerodrome, as the aeroplane was coming in to land at approximately 8.15 p.m. The three men were thrown out with the impact, but the aeroplane dived into the ground near them and burst into flames. The aeroplane fell on top of ActingPilot Officer McCrorie, who must have been killed instantly. The ambulance and fire-fighting equipment at Wigram was immediately rushed to the spot. Nothing could be done to save Acting-Pilot Officer McCrorie/ but Pilot Officer Dawson and Leading Aircraftsman West were taken in the Air Force ambulance to, Christchurch Hospital. An eye-witness said that the burst of flame from the aeroplane was so great that at first he thought he was seeing an unusually bright aurora, display. He was coming into the city from the south and decided to investigate. His second conclusion was that the light came from flares laid to aid landing for two aeroplanes, which he saw flying with lights showing. He left his motor-car and moved toward the spot, only to see that the flames came from an aeroplane on the ground. A uniformed Air Force officer- prevented his going any further, though he was ‘nearly half a mile away. “From what 1 saw of the aeroplane I presumed that any person in jt at the time of the crash would certainly perish,” he said. Another man said he saw the aeroplane circling to come in for the landing. He turned his back and saw a great flash in the sky. A terriffic explosion followed. He turned in time to see the aeroplane falling in flames to the ground. Acting Pilot Officer McCrorie was educated at the Wanganui Collegiate School, and was a son of LieutenantColonel W. S. McCrorie. Re had been .‘at Wigram more than six months. Lieut-Colonel McCrorie was formerly commanding officer of the Wellington (West Coast) Regiment. SECOND VICTIM DEAD (By Telegraph—Press Association.) CHRISTCHURCH, This Day.. A second death occurred early this morning, when Pilot-Officer Dawson died of burns.