T.E.A.L. GUESTS STARTLED

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29071, 7 December 1959, Page 15

T.E.A.L. GUESTS STARTLED

Sudden Plunge By Electra

A violent gravity stress startled passengers who were guests on a courtesy flight aboard a Tasman Empire Airways Electra flying from Christchurch airport on Saturday. Guests said later that "my eyes rolled back into my head” and “my whole face tingled” (symptoms of G-force) as the plane was brought back on an even keel after a plunge through cloud towards trees and paddocks below. The incident occurred when the Electra was climbing from the runway.

Seat belts held passengers steady as the plane suddenly plunged. The port wing dipped, cloud below suddenly gave way to ground coming uncomfortably closer, and the horizon spun around the windows. Then came the violent recovery that thrust guests deep into their seats. It was over in a few seconds and the Electra was once more climbing away at 280 miles an hour and rising at 2500 ft a minute.

Two men with former experience as service pilots aboard at the time said they were certain the £lm aircraft had been dangerously close to a stall. “What happened just after we took off?” the Lockheed pilot on the Electra flight deck was asked after the plane returned to the airport. The pilot (Captain K. Kirk) replied: “We climbed away rapidly for clearance.” There was no further comment on the incident.