FATAL CRASH

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 55, Issue 247, 1 August 1935, Page 6

FATAL CRASH

WOMAN KILLED AT WAIHO.

CORONER COMMENDS PILOT.

EVIDENCE AT THE INQUEST,

(Per Press Association). HOKITIKA, July 31

A small bundle of newspapers is thought to have caused the fatal aeroplane crash at Waiho on: June 20, when Mrs E. J. Newman was killed and the pilot, Harold Thomas Lawn, severely burned. Lawn stated at the inquest to-day that he thought that the papers, which he had put across his knees when taking off, had slipped down and blocked' the rudder bar. The pilot-instructor at Hokitika considered this explanation was feasible, as he had tried out a similar machine with a parcel of newspapers, the result of the experiment satisfying him that the rudder control might well have become jammed. Pilot Proved Competent. John McDowall, ground engineer at Hokitika Aerodrome, certified that the aeroplane was in perfect order when the pilot took charge. It was functioning perfectly after leaving the ground. William Frederick Park, pilot-in-structor at Hokitika, also checked up the aeroplane. He removed! the dual control,, and saw the aeroplane leave. A small parcel of newspapers was handed to the pilot before he left. Harold Lawn, the pilot, had received tuition from him and had proved thoroughly competent. Witness said there was nothing unusual in carrying papers on a crosscountry flight, though carrying or dropping parcels from commercial aiicraft was forbidden by the Air Navigation Act without special permission from the Minister. The prohibitory regulations did not apply to privatelyowned aircraft, and did not -apply to the flight made by Lawn on June 20. Harold Thomas Lawn said he was a holder of a B license, which entitled him to carry passengers. He took off on June 20 with all's Newman as passenger in the front cockpit. He was handed a bundle of three or four newspapers tied together, and placed them across his knees. He intended to put them at the side of the seat after taking off, but forgot all about them till after the accident. Work on Aerodrome. The*machine was in perfect order all the way. On sighting H l6 aerodrome he made a left-hand circuit and, knowing that work was being done on the aerodrome, flew down low over the runway to see that everything was in order. He saw a workman point to a heap of gravel clear of the runway. He rose from the landingground and made a right-hand turn which took him back in the direction from which he had come, parallel to the landing ground. He was well down to allow of plenty of room for the turn and approach. Te applied the right-hand bank and rudder for a right-hand turn, and when the turn began he tried to ease off the rudder, but found it would not move. He realised immediately that this would send the ’plane nose-diving to the ground, and knew lie bad to abandon that turn, so he applied the full left stick and engine. This brought him out of the turn, but as the controls were crossed, the aeroplane was skidding and sinking. It sank nearly to the ground and then started 0 lift slightly. Strikes Ground Heavily. Then the wheels struck something, probably a fence, and the aeroplane nose-dived to the ground, striking heavily. . , He was knocked unconscious, and the next thing he remembered was seeing the machine ablaze. He was still strapped in. He undid Ins be and scrambled out. He could feet the heat, but his clothing was not on fire. Then he rushed to the front cockpit to rescue his passenger, hut could not see her. The whole machine was a mass of flame. The benzine tank had burst, and 14 gallons of benzine was pouring over the machine. When he was endeavouring to reacn the passenger liis clothes caught file. Failing to reach her on one side fie went to the other, but the flames were worse there and he had to abandon his attempts. (He heard no sound from the passenger.

Assistance by Workmen.

Then workmen came along, who assisted him to remove his burning clothes. The aeroplane was completely destroyed. It was not on fire before reaching the ground. Ine cause of the pccident was his inability to move the rudder bar from the righthand position. The only way he could account for the accident was that the bundle of papers had slipped off his knees to the floor, and worked its way against the rudder bar, causing it to jam. There Avas no other foreign matter in the cockpit that would cause the accident. Since the accident he had been a patient in the Westland Hospital, and was still a patient, suffering from the burns lie had received. Theory Supported. William Park, recalled, said that lie considered that the pilot’s explanation of the accident was feasible, and probably the tine cause of the mishap. Since the accident he had tried out a similar machine, a Moth, witli a parcel of newspapers, and the result satisfied him of the possibility of the papers jamming the rudder control in such conditions as had been explained. The Coroner returned a verdict that Esther Jane Newman was accidentally killed on June 20 at Wailio .as a result of an aeroplane crashing when about to land ; that the aeroplane was in perfect order for the journey; that the mishop appeared to have been caused by a bundle of newspapers jamming the rudder control, and that the pilot, Harold Lawn, made commendable efforts, at great personal risk and injury, to extricate the passenger from the burning aeroplane.