LOSS OF AIR-LINER

Dominion, Volume 29, Issue 94, 15 January 1936, Page 9

LOSS OF AIR-LINER

Pilot’s Dramatic Story at Inquest

ENGINES FAIL TOGETHER

By Telegraph.—Press Assn.—Copyright Alexandria, January 13. The inquest, on the victims of the Imperial Airways liner City of Khartoum, which was wrecked in the Mediterranean on the evening of December 30. fias opened. The pilot, Mr. V. Gorry Wilson, giving evidence, stated that within a minute of Ohe sending of the last wareloss message, which was the signal for the winding in of the aerial, all (he engines failed simultaneously. The altimeter was registering 600 feet and the visibility was good. He put. Hie machine on the correct diving angle, but since the air screws had stopped be lost 100 feet before attaining the correct, angle. The glide was normal, except that it was a little steeper than it would have been if the engines bad been running. The machine struck the water in 15 seconds, shattering my hope of making a safe landing. •‘Before hitting the water,” he said, "I was only slightly anxious, owing to the fact that I had not normal aids for landing like flares or buoys. I flattened out the aeroplane at the moment of contact with the sea. It was impossible to see the water iu these circumstances, since the nose light, was only for picking out obstacles ahead. I bad never before landed with only nose lights. One of the petrol gauges showed 25 gallons and the other nil. There was enough petrol for 20 minutes’ flying.”

Escape From Cockpit.

Wilson gave a dramatic account of the final scene. “I made a good, normal contact with the water,” he said, "but almost immediately afterward the nose of the aeroplane was buried in solid water as though we had run into a large swell. I found myself in the water one second after the aeroplane made contact with the sea. I undid the safety valves and extricated myself from the cockpit, which was now open, and then, on getting to the surface, saw the aeroplane standing on its nose practically vertically. It took 15 or 20 minutes for me to strip off my clothes. Duly the starboard tip of the wing and the tail structure were then visible, silhouetted against the sky. I drifted, holding on to cockpit cushion, which soon became sodden and then I swam to the aeroplane and climbed on to the tailplane, where I found a passenger, who asked what were our chances of being picked up. I reassured him. I saw another passenger swimming and trying to climb oil to the tailplane, lint he was repeatedly swept off by the swell. I pu'Jed him on the tailplane. The swell was nine feet from crest to trough, which was considerable for landing a flyingboat.

By this time 45 minutes had elapsed. I remained on the tailplane, and then took to the rudder until it was submerged. Then I swam to the starboard wing tip, where 1 remained until 9.30 p.m., when the aeroplane sank. Jly luminous watch did not stop. I was on the wing tip for an hour.” Wilson described how he swam until lie was picked up at 12.5 a.m. Medical Evidence. Wilson expressed the opinion that possibly a breakage in the petrol feed or an obstruction caused the disaster. He added that he climbed on the sinking aeroplane and remained until it sank. He spoke to the American pas senger, Jlr. C. Luke, after the crash, and also to the first engineer, Jlr. Amor, who was a strong swimmer. He was himself nearly run down by 11.J1.5. Brilliant, which eventually picked him up. The court listened tensely while a doctor described the causes of the death of the victims. The medical evidence disclosed that Mr A. L. Garrett, an Australian, and two of the crew died from drowning, and that seven others with fractured skulls were killed instantly. ’The coroner asked the court to stand in silence in sympathy for the dead. II will be at least three or four weeks before the technical iniestigation is concluded.