TERRIBLE ORDEAL

Dominion, Volume 27, Issue 147, 19 March 1934, Page 10

TERRIBLE ORDEAL

Mr. Boucher Under Plane for Twelve Hours AMBULANCE MAN’S STORY The story of the terrible ordeal which Mr. Boucher must have undergone before he was released from the wreckage of the aeroplane was told by Mr. W. Lean, of the Wellington Free Ambulance, who with a St. John Ambulance man. Mr. Mason, set out to find the injured pilot and to bring him back from the hills. The two men tlifljnselves experienced a trying time both in reaching the scene of the tragedy and in assisting to bring Mr. Boucher out of the rough country in which the machine met destruction. “The first intimation which we received was from members of the aero club, who advised that they had had a meshage from Happy Valley saying that the machine had been located In the hills,” he said. “But details of the exact position were lacking. Mr. Mason, of the St. John Ambulance, and I were directed to proceed with the ambulance as far as we could drive it. We followed the Happy Valley Road, but'could take the car, only to what is known as the ‘run round,’ which is along the coast in the direction of Red Rocks.

“About one-third of the way from the turn round, we came upon a beach bach and found Mr. Swan there. He had come along the coast from Red Rocks and looked absolutely exhausted. He toid us he had walked eight miles over very rough country. One eye was black, and he seemed ‘done In.’” Mr. Lean said ‘he and his companion pushed on round the coast-line after receiving directions from Mr. Swan to make for. Red Rocks stream. He said a benzine tank was beside the stream away up ,in the hills. Mr. Swan was being taken care of by a doctor and there- was nothing further the ambulance men could do for him. They had with them a canvas sling stretcher, and. locating the stream after a long tramp, struck inland looking for the benzine tank. It had not occurred to them at that time that the tank Mr. Swan mentioned was'the one belonging to the wrecked aeroplane, so had no clear idea what they were looking for. They decided to work along a* ridge high above the stream in order to obtain a better view of the country. It would be about 4.30 or 5 o’cldck' when they found the Red Rocks stream. Very Difficult Country.

'The country became very difficult as we got further in from the sea,” continued Mr. Lean, “and soon the continual climb up a never-ending series of rough hills and the eyen more difficult descent into the valleys began to tell on both of us. There was still no sign of any benzine tank, but the onlything to do was to keep on.

“Evening was coming s>n when we noticed the smoke of a fire on the summit of a very high hill across the valley from where we were. We had reached the top of a hill with a trig station on it, and now had to get down into the valley, across a stream and commence the climb up the hill—it was really a mountain —on the top of which we could see the fire. By now it was practically dark and a heavy fog had settled over the country. At times the fire could not be seen, but fortunately the mist would clear for a few moments, enabling 'us to catch, a glimpse of it. We knew it must be a signal giving a general direction of where the wrecked 'plane lay.” By this time the two men had been on the rough country for three and a half hours, and were on the point of exhaustion. At times, said Mr. Lean, they had to crawl forward on hands and knees, pausing every 25 yards or so for a rest as they worked their way toward the peak of the hill where the' fire was revealed now and again through the fog. “At the top of the hill we found three or four men who had made a fire with portions of the lost plane,” continued Mr. Lean. “It was now dark, and wo could see only a few feet. The men who were there before us were, I think, members of the Aero Club, and they conducted us half-way down the opposite side of the hill from the side we had climbed to the fire. There we found the aeroplane smashed to pieces. Portions were strewn in all directions, and many parts covered the mountain side higher up from where the main section of the fuselage was found. I could not see the engine, and I thought it must have been buried in the earth. Mr. Boucher Under Wreckage. “Mr. Boucher lay under the wreckage on his back. He had two deep gashes on the nose, and it seemed that his back was broken. He was semi-con-scious, and asked for an injection,” Mr. Lean said. “He had not been moved by the men who had arrived first because the aeroplane had come to rest on the brink of a high precipice, and they had feared to move Mr. Boucher, as any interference might cause the machine to slide over the edge, carrying the injured pilot with it.” Mr. Lean said the danger was immediately apparent, as the plane was lying at a precarious angle on the sharplysloping mountain side. He crawled beneath the machine and fastened a rope round Mr. Boucher, who, was gently released. While being carried to the top of the hill he lapsed into unconsciousness, and did not speak again. Mr. Boucher had lain beneath the machine for nearly 12 hours, and had been semi-conscious during-the whole period. He mentioned to Mr. Lean that he was numb, and felt no pain, nor did he complain of the biting cold.

The journey back .was beguii at about 8 p.m., the party following high land all the way. At intervals fires were lighted from fallen timber which was found in abundance on the hills. One member of the party volunteered to the stretcher-bearers back to Happy Valley, but in the dark, sit 3 a.m., they eventually emerged at Fitchett’s Farm at the back of Brooklyn. There Dr. Mcßae and Dr. Childs met them. They could only pronounce life extinct, Mr. Boucher having died si few hours earlier.

From the position in which the plane was discovered, said Mr. Lean, it would appear that the machine must have struck the mountain near Its summit. Probably a wing grazed the earth and was wrenched off, the whole machine then slithering down the steep slope and finally coming to a halt at the edge of the precipice. Mr. Lean formed this theory from the miraculous escape of Mr. Swan, who must have been thrown clear. If’the aeroplane had hit the hill head on, Mr. Swam being in the passenger’s seat in the front, must have been killed. •