LIGHT PLANE WRECKED

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29060, 24 November 1959, Page 14

LIGHT PLANE WRECKED

Crash In South Westland (New Zealand Press Association) GREYMOUTH, November 23. Caught in a sudden downdraught a few seconds after leaving the ground, a Tiger Moth operated by West Coast Aviation, Ltd., crashed and exploded soon after 9 a.m. today. The pilot, Mr Don Smith, of Greymouth, escaped uninjured. Few details of the mishap were available tonight, as the manager of West Coast Aviation, Mr Malcolm Forsyth, left about noon—when he was notified of the crash —for Paringa, in South Westland, to inspect the aircraft and bring the pilot back. The Moth had a cargo of venison, the property of West Coast Natural Food Supplies, which has established a major industry on the coast by exporting venison to America.. According to a Paringa resident, the aircraft left the ground safely, but a few minutes later dived into the ground. Mr Smith scrambled out and reached safety seconds before the fuel tank exploded, turning the Moth into a blazing wreck. It is now lying at the end of the runway, a charred skeleton. About 120 air miles south of Greymouth, Paringa is one of the better developed air strips in southern Westland. Built by West Coast Airways to be used by Dominie aircraft, the strip is a long one, and can take machines that would be too large to land at Greymouth.