FLYING DISASTER.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 161, 9 July 1926, Page 6

FLYING DISASTER.

OFFICER AND CADET KILLED.

SIX DEATHS THIS TEAR.

A TERRIBLE CRASH.

(From Our Own Correspondent.) SYDNEY, July 2. Thursday's tragic aerial disaster near Werribee, * Victoria, in which a flying officer and a cadet were burnt to death, brings the death roll from air smashes to six so far this year. Flying Officer William Arthur Holtham, aged 2S years, and cadet Thomas Stuart Glendinning Watson, 23, were the victims, both being attached to Point Cook aerodrome and flying school. The crash actually occurred in a field a mile from Manor railway station, on property owned by Mr. V. Palmer. Mr. S. Ball, owner of the adjoining property, was watching the machine before it fell and he saye that it appeared to him to be taking an erratic course. It was flying about 200 feet above the ground, and nose dived suddenly, digging into the ground and bursting into flames immediately it struck. The plane was destroyed within a few minutes, and the airmen were burnt beyond recognition. There was a loud report, probably an explosion of petrol, when it struck. Ball ran across to render assistance, but was too late. He formed the impression that the airmen were killed immediately when the plane hit the ground. Other nearby residents heard the explosion and saw the fall. Mrs. Critchley, wife of the stationmaster at Manor station, said she was watching the 'plane from the time it circled overhead at a great height. The engine did not appear to be running smoothly, for she heard a peculiar grating noise. The 'plane then began to spiral towards the ground as though the pilot was attempting to make a forced landing. From about 200 feet up, however, it nose dived, the imprint of the four wings and the fact that the engine was buried in the sround, indicated that it struck vertically.

A dance which was to have been held at Point Cook by the R.A.A.F. was postponed as soon as news of the disaster reached the aerodrome. It is the second function of tlie kind that has had to be postponed through a fatal crash. The other occasion was when Cadet Percival was killed on a solo training flight on June 3. The "plane concerned in Thursday's crash was a de Haviland 9 advanced training 'plane. It was one of the gift 'planes from the British Government after the war. Some time ago it was reconditioned as a new machine. According to the officer in charge of the school, Flying Officer Holtham was considered the best instructor at Point Cook, and experts are mystified at his failure to retain control, even if the engine stalled during the flight. The smash was the subject of inquiry by members of the House of Representatives, Sir Neville Howse, the Minister, replying that a Court of Inquiry had been convened to report on the accident. The gift 'planes from England, it is recalled, were allowed to lie in their cases for months after they arrived in Australia before they were assembled. They cost a third of their original price each to place in commission as flying machines, and experts say that while they are safe enough in some respects, they are nevertheless dangerous in others.