THREE KILLED

Evening Post, Volume CXIV, Issue 69, 19 September 1932, Page 7

THREE KILLED

■» AEROPLANE ACCIDENT

LEADING AVIATORS

CRASH IN BAD WEATHER1

LEFT WING BREAKS OF?;

United Association—By Etactrle JWto.

eraph—Copyright. . . (Received 19th September, 9 a.m;)] ft SYDNEY, This Day. One of the worst aeroplane accidents in the history of aviation in Australia occurred yesterday onthe North Coast in the vicinity of Bangslow and Byron Bay. Three leading ' aviators were killed when a Puss Moth machine crashed 1000 feet on to the side of a mountain. The victims wereVLeslie Holden, Efa-. Qeorgo R. Hamilton, and Ralph Virtue,

Their aeroplane, the property of New, England Airways, was piloted by Mr. Virtue. It left Sydney fq r Brisbane at 9 a.m., and encountered bad leather right up the coast. The weather was misty, squally,, and generally' cloudy. : ■ ' , ■ .

Details of the crash indicate that the pilot must have been flying blind owing to the bad weather. .It-emerged from clouds and mist and passed over a ridge five miles beyond Baagalow ' * Btruck a tree '** * : 'A desperate attempt was made ■to right the machine, which somersaulted into a valley hundreds of feet below and was wrecked. •.. ■ ' EYE-WITNESSES' STORY. Eye-witnesses state that the aeroplane appeared to be in trouble and the pilot obviously intended to laafe Hearing an explosion, local people ran out in time to see a wing break from the machine.... Jules Mpxon, an aviator, who. wit on the scene soon after the accident, said that he thought the final" dire was caused by ±he breaking of the left wing spar. '. " Charles Langley saw the aeroplane battling through the. blinding rauu lashed by a strong southerly. "It wa» flying very low," he said, "and-it seem* ed that the pilot'was trying" to land. When the machine was nearing the ground it suddenly shot into the air again almost at right angles. Then the left -wing came off and the aeroplane' nose-dived, spinning round twice before if' crashed, with the wreckage " whirling over a hundred yards round the scene of the -smash." The pilot, Virtue,, was crushed in' the twisted steel work of the control seat, while in the wrecked fuselage were Holden and Hamilton, every bone in their bodies broken and their heads fractured in several . places. 'The bodies were extricated with-consider-able difficulty. ............ ... , ■ The watch on Virtue's : wrist Aad stopped at 1.25 p.m. That; was th» time the residents heard the explosion. NOTABLE BECOBDS. _Mr. Holden was a war-time, pilot,. with a notable record. Since he took up civil aviatiojn he had the reputation, of being one of "the most skilled pilots in Australia. He never had a forced landing in the strict sense of the term. He leaves a widow and three children. Dr. Hamilton was a leading Sydney medical practitioner,, but 'latterly de- •' voted considerable time and money to aviation. He also, leaves;a widow and three children. Mr. Holden and.Dr. Hamilton in the air-liner Canberra found the lost Southern Cjross with the Kingsford SmithHim party in North-Western Australia a fevv years ago. v Mr. Holden was afterwards associated with ' the aerial party which searched for Messrs. Anderson and Hitchcock, who perished ■in Central Australia wnile looking1 for the.Southern Cross. " , - ,' Dr. Hamilton was an expert ' aerial photographer. i . '" Mr. Virtue was an experienced pilot employed by New England' Airways* which conducts an aerial passenger and mail service between Sydney, lasmore, and Brisbane. ; ■•.-.■ Mr.'Holden and Dr. Hamilton recent-/ ly returned from New Guinea, where' they established aerial services W the gold^elds. The pair only arrived in Sydney a week' ago,, and.intended, returning. -• -■ '- 1 ■-