ACCIDENTS

Press, Volume LXXVII, Issue 23477, 4 November 1941, Page 8

ACCIDENTS

AEROFLANE FALLS INTO SEA PILOT RESCUED BY SURF BOAT fPAI DUNEDIN, November 3. Suffering from shock and injuries to his nose, the pilot of an Air Force aeroplane from the Taien station was rescued by two members of the at. Clair Surf Life-saving Club when his machine plunged into the sea nearly half a mile off the beach this , morning The accident occurred practically in front of the esplanade, and but for the fact that Mr Hugh Devlin, the beach patrol, and Mr Stewart Algie, were within easy reach of me beach, the pilot of the aeroplane. Pilot Officer d’Arcy Bertram Christopher, might have been drowned. A heavy rain squall swept the beach shortly after he was brought ashore, and the machine sank in 20 or 30 feet of W The aeroplane, flown by Pilot Officer Christopher, was one of two which were circling over the sea at St. Clair about 11 o’clock. It was flying at a low altitude when, according to several onlookers, it suddenly dived into the water, well beyond the last line of breakers. It disappeared below the water, arid the tail then rose above the surface. Mr Devlin was standing on the esplanade, watching the two machines, and he saw the crash. Running to the club house, he put on bathing shorts and, with assistance, carried the surf boat down to the water’s edge. By this time Mr Algie had arrived on the beach, and the two men set out through the breakers for the aeroplane, which i from the boat was not always visible. The journey out to the machine was accomplished in less than 20 minutes, und as. they approached the two men saw the nilot sitting on the tail of the aeroplane. He had removed his heavy flying suit and boots, and waved cheerily to his rescuers. He took a paddle on the way back, and as soon as he reached the beach he was taken to a waiting ambulance, and removed to the public hospital, suffering from shock and Injuries to his nose. Pilot Officer Christopher is a former secretary of the St. Clair Surf LifeSaving Club, and has himself taken part in several rescues in the past. Salvage equipment was brought in from the Taieri station, but because the surf had become fairly rough by this time plans to recover the machine were abandoned for the day. GIRL KILLED SCARF CAUGHT IN WASHING MACHINE (P.A.) AUCKLAND. November 3. A young Kaitaia schoolgirl was killed in tragic circumstances early this afternoon, when the ends of a light silk scarf she was wearing became entangled in the tollers of. an electric washing machine. The victim was Ina Lorna Taaffe, aged 16, the youngest daughter of Mr J. T. B. Taaffe. of Kaitaia. The girl was a pupil of the Kaitaia High School. Her mother and father were in Kaikohe at the time, and she had remained at home with one of her sisters who is ill. There was washing beside the machine when she was found by her other sister. ________________