TWO 'PLANES CRASH.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 46, 24 February 1931, Page 8

TWO 'PLANES CRASH.

FOUR OCCUPANTS ESCAPE. CAUGJIT IN LIGHTNING STORM RETURNING FROM DUNEDIN. ' (By Telegraph. —Own Correspondent.) TIMARU, Monday. Mishap overtook two Government aeroplanes while returning from Dunedin. One of the' machines had won the aerial Derby at the Otago Aero Club a pageant at Dunedin on Saturday. The other was piloted by Wing-Commander Grant Dalton, Director of Dominion Air Services. ■ Owing to bad atmospheric conditions, the planes crashed near Silverton, the homestead of Mr. J. M. H. Tripp, 14 miles from Geraldine. The four occupants escaped with severe shakings. The Derby winner, a wooden Moth, was piloted by FlightSergeant S. Simpson, the chief mechanic at Wigram aerodrome, who had as passenger Flight-Sergeant, L. A. C. Dini. The second aeroplane, a metal Moth, also carried a passenger. The pilots were flying in the face of lightning, thunder and low clouds, whek without a moment's notice both aeroplanes crashed. The metal Moth was the first to strike the ground. Its undercarriage was broken and other damage was caused. The wooden Moth crashed a few seconds later and was seriously damaged, the under-carri/ge being totally wrecked and the propellei smashed. Although the site of the crashes is less than a quarter of a mile from the homestead the field where the aeroplanes lie is a tussocky wind-swept waste. It seems remarkable that the occupants of the wooden Moth were not either killea or seriously injured, as the under-carri-age was pushed up through the flooring of the pilot's seat and the most exposed parts of the machine were badly smashed. A Government lorry was loaded with parts of. the wreckage by mechanics from Sockburn. It has been decided to send the wooden Moth to Christcnurcii for repairs and it is hoped that the metal machine will be sufficiently , reconstructed to be ; flown to Christchurch tomorrow. " t ,

Immediately after the accident WingCommander Grant Dalton communicated with Christchurch by telephone and later in the day he left by service car for that city, intending to cross by the ferry to Wellington. The other occupants, of the aeroplanes are guests at "Silverton." They were reticent when questioned about their misadventure.