Men’s Bodies Brought Out

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31660, 22 April 1968, Page 1

Men’s Bodies Brought Out

The bodies of the two men who were killed when a Canterbury Aero Club Cherokee aircraft crashed in Lees Valley on Friday morning were recovered by a Search and Rescue Organisation party on Saturday afternoon.

The carrying party reached the base camp at Middlebridge on the Lees Valley Road at 2.30 p.m. The men were: Owen David Holmes, aged 21, single, a flying instructor of the Canterbury Aero Club, of 456 Barbadoes Street. His parents, Mr and Mrs D. Holmes, live at 53 Jones Street, Wanganui. Michael Brent Glanville, aged 19, of 22 Gleneagles Terrace. The third man in the aircraft, Allan Bond, of 156 Canon Street, who was seriously injured, was reported last evening by the Christchurch Hospital to be improving. His condition was described as fairly satisfactory. The name of Mr Holmes was not released until Saturday after his relatives had been informed. The aircraft was heading for the airstrip on the property of Mr N. Duckworth, Lees Valley, when it crashed in mid-morning. It had taken off from the Christchurch Airport at 9.15 a.m. WRITE-OFF The Piper Cherokee 140, a low-wing, all-metal, fourseater aircraft valued at about $lO,OOO, is a write-off but some parts will be salvaged. The Canterbury Aero Club

had had the plane for about two years. It was covered by insurance. The advance party of four police'equipped with a radio, left the base camp at Middlebridge on the Ashley River at 8.10 a.m. on Saturday. The carrying party of about 42 left the camp at 8.45 a.m. and returned at 2.30 p.m. with the bodies. It was raining, the rivers were up and the party had to use the high route across the ridges. The president of the Canterbury Aero Club, Mr W. A. Morrison, said the Search and Rescue Organisation had done a fine job. Mr Duckworth deserved the fullest credit for pin-pointing the crash and he had arrived on the scene with a first aid kit one and a half hours before anyone else. His actions had helped save the life of Mr Bond who had crawled from the aircraft. At the time of the crash the weather was fine but soon after heavy rain began to fall, Mr Morrison said. After giving Mr Bond first aid, Mr Duckworth carried him to shelter under a bush and used part of the wing to provide additional protection for the injured man. The club had had 80,000 hours of flying since the last serious accident about 10 years ago. It was the first time an instructor of the club had been killed in a flying accident, said Mr Morrison. LAST EXAMINATION Mr Bond, who suffered spinal injuries, a broken nose and burns to his face and hands, planned, to become an airline pilot like his father, Mr K. G. Bond, the flight superintendent of N.A.C. On Thursday he sat his last examinations for his pilot’s training licence which would make him a commercial pilot. Mr Glanville had 50 hours flying and was a keen student

pilot Mr Holmes had about 2000 hours, including about 1400 giving dual control instruction. He had been flying since he was a schoolboy. He had been a full-time university student but later became a part-time one so he could give more time to flying. Squadron Leader R. Chippendale, of the R.N.Z.A.F., inspected the crash on Saturday and Wing Commander O. J. O’Brien, chief inspector of accidents for the Civil Aviation Department went as far as the base camp to examine the terrain.