FATAL CRASHES.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 127, 31 May 1937, Page 7

FATAL CRASHES.

SIX IN BRITAIN. Empire Air Day One of the Blackest. CROWDS AS WITNESSES. Cnited Press Association. —Copyright. LONDON, May 30. Tragedies marred displays held by the Royal Air Force at various aerodromes yesterday in commemoration of Empire Air Day. Squadron-Leader Power was killed instantly at Waddington, Lincolnshire, when his aeroplane nose-dived during a loop. Pilot-Officer Elms, who was participating in formation flying at Salisbury, was killed when his machine nosedived from a height of 300 ft. Thousands of people, including many women and children, witnessed these two crashes. A third fatal accident occurred at Farnborough, where an aeroplane, the pilot of which was demonstrating an "intentional spin" to avoid anti-aircraft gunfire, failed to right itself and fell several hundred feet. Flight-Lieutenant Tanfield and a companion were burnt to death. A fourth accident occurred when a pilot was killed in a crash into a field near Tangmere, Sussex. The public were not aware of this fatality. A fifth fatality was when a Percival Gull machine which was participating in an Empire Air Day race from London to the Isle of Man crashed into a house when taking off and caught fire, setting light to two other house? The pilot was killed and a passenger was injured. There was a sixth crash in the evening at Doncaster, whera a North-Eastern Airways machine giving passenger flights fell on the outskirts of the aerodrome. The pilot and five passengers were severely injured, and two died later. Eight thousand people witnessed the accident. It was one of the blackest days in British aviation, with ten deaths in 24 hours. The Farnborough accident was especially tragic. Anti-aircraft guns were firing "dummy" shells, which were bursting amid smoke round the aeroplane, which, when it hurtled to the ground with smoke issuing from the exhaust, was believed by the thousands of spectators to be part of the performance. It was not realised that the machine wi-s doomed.

RETURN FLIGHT.

AIRMAN WANTS A RECORD. (Received 10 a.m.) CAPETOWN. May 30. Flying-Officer David Llewellyn, who just failea to secure a record on the outward flight, started at 4 a.m. from here on the return trip to Croydon. He will attempt to beat Mr. H. L. Brook's time record, established earlier this month.