NEW AEROPLANE CRASHES

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22338, 28 February 1938, Page 10

NEW AEROPLANE CRASHES

Christchurch Pilot Killed ACCIDENT NEAR PREBBLETON Aerobatics End In Tragedy •When the aeroplane in which he was performing aerobatics over the Prebbleton district yesterday morning: crashed in a field, Clifford Albert Burmister a single man, aged 22, of 244 Gloucester steeet, Christchurch was killed almost machine, a new Miles monoplane, ZK-AFA, was completely wrecked. Burmister, who had about 22 hours' flying to his credit, some 10 hours having been done solo, was a trainee of the Canterbury Aero Club under the Government's civil reserve scheme, and the aeroplane was one of those imported by the Government and lent to the club, the price to be refunded by the club on terms. Burmister was employed as a surveyor by the Public Works Department in Christchurch. . The pilot, who was the sole occupant of the aeroplane, was alive when taken from the wreckage but died within a few seconds, before the arrival of a doctor. He received superficial injuries to the face and legs, but the full extent of his injuries will not be known until after a post-mortem examination, wnicii will be held to-day. An inquest will also be opened to-day. The aeroDlane was valued ax £ 1900. It will be almost a total loss to the club, instruments and the engine being the only parts likely to be of further use. The cost of the engine is about £SOO, and it is expected that damage to the extent of more than £ 100 has been done to it.

Spin from a Loop The machine went into a spin from the -top of a loop, and having then too little height, began to straighten out too late to avoid an accident, it crashed in a field belonging to Mr J T Gallagher, Shand's track, about 11.30 a.m. Burmister had already done some dual aerobatic work earlier in the morning. Mr G. Rutherford who lives immediately opposite the field, was 4he first to reach the wreck, and, with Messrs W. Gallagher and R. Blair, lifted the pilot out of the cockpit. Burmister, who was in the rear cockpit, was found still strapped in and had slumped forward. It was necessary to remove only a little of the wrecked fuselage to get him out, the whole of the engine and the front cockpit having been practically severed from the rest of the fuselage. Although the petrol tank was leaking, no tuv broke out. After having removed the pilot from the wreckage, Mr Rutherford called Dr. F. W. Helmore, the police, and the St. John Ambulance, and the body was later removed to the Christchurch Hospital. The machine struck the ground about 30 yards from a low gorse fence on the road boundary of the field, travelling only about 20 feet before coming to rest. A scar on the ground less than a foot deep marked the point of impact. The undercarriage was apparently torn away, and the aeroplane thrown nose foremost on to the ground, both wings being smashed, the right one almost to matchwood, the power unit torn from the fuselage and the front cockpit crushed. The fuselage was not telescoped, however, and the tail unit was nearly intact. Eye-witness's Statement "I was watching the aeroplane stunting for about half an hour," said Mr K. Hammond, Trent's road, who lives near the scene of the crash. "The pilot looped the loop at a fair height several times and came out of the manoeuvre perfectly. Once or twice he did three or four spirals before coming out of a loop. After one loop, the aeroplane was flown inverted and the pilot then put the machine into a second loop. It appeared that, as he was coming out of the loop, the aeroplane tipped slightly sideways and went into a slow spin." Mr Hammond said he thought the pilot was trying to straighten out when he struck the ground. The machine was not falling at a very sharp angle. Mr Hammond considered that it was at a height of about 750 or 1000 feet when it went into the spin. His attention was first attracted to the machine by the aerobatics being performed by the pilot almost directly over his property. Questioned last evening about the height • of the aeroplane, Mr G. L. Stedman (chief instructor to the Aero Club) said that it appeared that the loop had been begun at too low an altitude. Stunts should not be started at less than 2000 feet, he said. Mrs Rutherford was also watching the aeroplane coming down and said she could see that it would not clear the gorse fence as it approached the ground. The next instant it had crashed out of sight behind a hedge. Mr R. C. Kean (chief inspector of civil aircraft) flew from Wellington to make an inspection of the aeroplane yesterday afternoon. The wreckage was roped off and t placed under guard and later removed to the aerodrome at Sockburn. It is not known when the inquiry will take place.. Awaited for many months, the aeroplane arrived in Christchurch about five or six weeks ago. It was a two-seater Miles Magister open cockpit monoplane, costing about £I9OO. It is nearly a year since the club had a serious mishap. Severe injuries were suffered by Mr F. Sharman, a member, when the aeroplane he was piloting crashed at the Hokitika aerodrome during the 1 South Island air pageant on March 21 last year. Extensive damage was done to the machine. The club's Fox Moth crashed in a heavy fog near the Middle Lincoln road on June 7, 1936, when it was returning from Porter's Pass with an injured man, the machine being almost totally wrecked.

AEROPLANE CRASHES INTO HARBOUR

PILOT PICKED UP BY LAUNCH ACCIDENT TO NEW TRAINING MACHINE AT AUCKLAND <FBES« ASSOCIATION TELSGttAM.) AUCKLAND, February 27. While on a test flight at Hobsonville yesterday morning, a ne* Tiger Moth aeroplane, piloted W Flight Lieutenant Anthony G. Lester, officer commanding the Hobsonville air base, crashed into the water near the wharf and was extensively damaged. The pilot, who was fly"«s solo, suffered injuries to the new* and was picked up by yg lings, who happened to be* nearby at the time in his launch. . The mishap occurred five minu«* after the machine had takenoS on its initial flight. The Tiger Moth » a new type of training m achu "\*i New Zealand, and it was assembly at Hobsonville only last week. » good take-off was made and the nus hap occurred when Flight Lieuten ant Lester was circling round w aerodrome gaining height, as sou as the machine struck the waterJ»£ Collings took his launch to the spo*. where it crashed and found tfl» Flight Lieutenant Lester had « tricated himself from the machine, which rapidly submerged. Flight Lieutenant Lester was taken to hospital suffering fromi» severe scalp wound, head, ana *» injuries. _ . .„__,,♦ The condition of Flight Lieutenant Lester is serious. „*«>nThe machine, which was . ex *~i sively damaged, was later salvage"*