Loss of pilot a mystery

Press, 27 October 1982, Page 28

Loss of pilot a mystery

PA Auckland The disappearance of a pilot while on a training flight near Ardmore in January was a mystery, the Papakura Coroner’s Court has heard.

The hearing was told that the Piper Tomahawk aircraft had plenty of fuel and was in good condition, and that the pilot, Paul William Clarke, aged 20, had no medical problem that would have affected his ability to fly. The Auckland Deputy Coroner, Mr H. M. Israel, found that Mr Clarke, of Papakura, died from an unknown cause or causes. There was no evidence of default or error with anybody connected with the aircraft.

However, Mr Israel endorsed a call by the Chief Inspector of Air Accidents, Mr R. Chippindale, for more rigid enforcement of the requirement for pilots of radioequipped aircraft flying in such an area to report every 30 minutes.

Mr. L. A. Loveday, the

office manager of the Waitemata Aero Club at Ardmore, said in a statement read to the court that Mr Clarke was a steady and reliable pilot. He had qualified as a private pilot in October, 1979. On January 7 he left on a training flight at 4.45 p.m. and was expected back within an hour. There had been no sign of- him since. The club’s chief flying instructor, Paul St Clair Col-lard-Scruby, said that the weather was clear, but there had been passing showers. The aircraft had no emergency locator beacons or flares.

Constable E. R. Barlow, of the Papakura police, said that extensive searches of the area had continued until February 5. The police were satisfied that it was not a manipulated disappearance. The missing man’s father, Mr H. E. Clarke, who owns a store at Canvastown, in Marlborough, said that his son had not suffered any serious or long-term illness.