WING FOLDED IN AIR.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 94, 22 April 1931, Page 9

WING FOLDED IN AIR.

TRAGIC AEROPLANE CRASH. SOUTHERN CROSS JUNIOR. INTERFERENCE SUGGESTED. (From Our Own Correspondent.) SYDNEY, April 17. The third fatal 'plane accident within a few weeks occurred at Mascot, Sydney, last Sunday, when the Southern Cross Junior, in which Mr. Guy Merzies

made his sensational dash from Australia to New Zealand this year, crashed, and Albert E. James, owner, and Leonard J. Palmer were killed. The tragic flight was the last of the day. Mr. James and Mr. Palmer decided to go for a short spin before putting the machine away, and it was only at the last moment that Mrs. James and her infant decided to wait on the ground for them, as the child had been ill duripg the day. The 'plane rose, and after flying round the aerodrome for a few

turns, started to gain height with the object of looping the loop. Few persons witnessed the actual happening which caused the 'plane to crash, but among those few was Mrs. James, whose eyes had not left the machine once since it left the ground. Eye-witnesses stated that as' the 'plane started to go into the climb before looping, one of the wings, which, when the 'plane is in the hangar, fold back, folded right back against the fuselage, and the machine went into a dive and crashed to the ground. It is eiu'mised that sightseers at the aerodrome had interfered with the locking bolts, which secure the wings to the fuselage when the machine is in action, and that these, working loose, caused the port wing to fold back when the strain of the steep climb was placed upon St.

Palmer was a well-known figure in Australian sport, for, in addition to being a capable pilot, he was also a State representative at Rugby Union football, and was champion of N.S.W. at foils and fencing. He was a member of the Waratah Rugby team, which toured England and Europe a few years ago, and was also a member of a N.S.W. side, captained by E. J. Thorn, which toured New Zealand in 1925. Recently he purchased the Red Rose, in which Mrs. Miller and Captain Lancaster flew from England to Australia.