FORCED LANDING.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 183, 4 August 1932, Page 20

FORCED LANDING.

aeroplane in snowstorm. timaru to christchurch. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) CHRISTCHURCH, Wednesday. Unable to find the Wigram aerodrome in a snowstorm this morning, Mr. W. E. Clark, ground engineer and assistant pilot to New Zealand Airways, Limited, was compelled to make a forced landing with a three-seater Spartan aeroplane on the Addington trotting grounds. He made a perfect landing. The passengers were Mias Esther James, who recently finished a walking tour of New Zealand advertising Dominion-made goods, and Mr. H. M. Mackay, managing director of New Zealand Airways. The party set out from Timaru at 10.30 a.m. in brilliant Bunshine. The machine ran into snow at Rakaia, and arrived over Christchurch when snow was falling heavily and the visibility was very bad. Mr. Clark was unable to see the aerodrome, although he actually passed over it flying low over the hangars. The snow fell for half an hour only. The weather then cleared.

FALL IN CANTERBURY.

MORTALITY IN" LAMBS FEARED. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) CHRISTCHURCH, Wednesday. There was a fall of snow throughout Canterbury this morning. It lasted half an hour in the city, but considerably longer in the northern parts of the province, where the fall was much heavier. It was feared that there might be .mortality among lambs, which are fairly numerous in some districts. The temperature at noon in the city was 33.9 degrees. Following on sleet, the fall became fairly thick and fast in the city and roofs of cars and building were soon covered. At 12.30 p.m., the snow eased off and light rain, which stopped at one o'clock, followed, and the enow quickly disappeared. The sun was shining late -this afternoon and this evening it was freezing hard. Forty miles north-west of Christchurch'the fall was four inches, but to the /south it was about an inch only. At Kaikoura, the depth in places was up to six inches. No damage to telegraph lines was reported and traffic j was not disorganised. J