Pilot killed in crash

Press, Volume CXIV, Issue 33493, 26 March 1974, Page 3

Pilot killed in crash

(New Zealand Press Association) AUCKLAND, March 25. A topdressing pilot was killed when his aircraft crashed after hitting a steer on an airstrip near Pukekohe early today.

The plane is believed to have struck the steer when the pilot was making a preliminary pass to clear the animals from the airstrip before landing. The dead man was

James Richard Aitcheson, aged 38, married, with five children, of Pukekohe.

After skidding about 200 yards, Mr Aitcheson managed to regain control of the plane, but was unable to clear a shed at the end of the strip. The plane, a Fletcher belonging to Thames Aerial Topdressing, Ltd, struck the roof of the shed, rolled over, crashed, and caught fire. The pilot was thrown out on impact. Mr W. Preston, who owns the strip, was behind the shed, but some distance away, when the aircraft came over the top. “I heard a loud bang, and saw the plane come rolling

1 over the top of the shed,” he said. “It was upside down when it hit the bank on my side of the shed.” The shed was used as a hanger by a Pukekohe flying group. Members of the group said it was normal practice to make one or two runs over the strip to frighten off grazing animals before landing. They believed the pilot was coming in to refuel after working in the area since early morning.