Pilot, Passenger Die In Topdressing Air Crash

Press, Volume XCVI, Issue 28413, 21 October 1957, Page 10

Pilot, Passenger Die In Topdressing Air Crash

(New Zealand Press Association) MASTERTON, October 20. The pilot and his passenger were killed when a_ Lockheed Lodestar topdressing plane struck a 1510 ft ridge in the Bideford district, 30 miles from Masterton, at 7 a.m. today. The men were: Austin Green, aged 27, the pilot, single, whose parents, Mr and Mrs J. W. Green, live at Mount Pleasant, Christchurch, and Francis Reginald Goggin, aged 39, married, with three children, of Masterton.

The Lodestar started operating from Hood aerodrome, Masterton. about dawn today and was on its fifth run when it crashed.

Apparently, the plane had passed up a valley and in banking away one wing struck the ridge. The plane caught fire and disintegrated, part being hurled over the ridge into the gully on the other side. The bodies of the two men were found in the same gully. Weather conditions in the area at the time were bad with cloud, rain, poor visibility and a strong wind. The plane was owned by Field-

air, Ltd., of Gisborne, and was the most recent addition to the company’s topdressing fleet. Mr Green had been flying the Lodestar from Hood aerodrome for the last week. The plane was capable of carrying a load of three and a half tons. Mr Green was born in Christchurch, was educated at Christ’s College. He learnt to fly with the Canterbury Aero Club about five years ago, taking his private and commercial licences. After gaining his commercial licence he worked with an aerial topdressing firm in Southand, and then went to Gisborne more than three years ago.