FATAL CRASH.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 221, 18 September 1930, Page 7

FATAL CRASH.

CAREER GUT SHORT.

Clever Young Australian Pilot

Kails 300 Feet.

MR. DAVID SMITH KILLED.

(United P.A.—Electric Telegraph—Copyright)

SYDNEY, September 17.

A fatal accident occurred this afternoon at Mascot aerodrome, the victim, being Mr.-David Smith, who failed in an attempt to fly to England in March.

Mr. Smith was flying in an aeroplane at. a height of 300 ft when his machine was seen to be in trouble.

Suddenly: the airman felland his body was recovered 50yds from the spot where the machine crashed in pieces.

Mr. Smith; who was quite a young man, was trying out a speedy Tiger Moth for an air pageant to be held on Saturday. It is believed that the engine "seized" and ho was thrown out of the machine. The airman's body struck and broke a. 4-inch beam in an old shed and then fell to the ground. The machine was buried nearly sft in a nursery adjoining the aerodrome.

The late Mr. David Smith made many friends in Auckland during a visit he paid here while anaking a world tour with the Australian Boys' League some years ago. He was held in the highest esteem by all who knew him. He is a son of Mr. W. J. Smith, managing director of the Australian Glass Manufacturers' Co., Ltd. The airman was one of the most promising young pilots-in Australia, having taken to aviation when in his early 'teens. Messrs. Smith and H. W. Shiers in the Ryan monoplane City of Sydney left the Mascot Aerodrome," Sydney, on March 24, for Wyndhara, en route to England. They were forced down on March 29 near the Argyle station, SO miles south-east of Wyndham. A search was instituted, and they were finally found on April 1, by which time they were badly in need of food. Their monoplane was abandoned. A remarkable coincidence was reported during the airmen's flight across the Australian Continent, when en route to England. In the heart of the great desert at the tiny airport o£ Camoweal, 750 miles from Wyndham, they met the two New Zealanders Flying Officers Kay and Piper, who, after many adventures, were completing a flight from the Homeland to Sydney. The meeting of the aviators was the more remarkable as neither pair was flying to schedule.