CRASH IN FLAMES

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 102, 3 May 1933, Page 9

CRASH IN FLAMES

TITLED PILOT'S DEATH

ACCIDENT AT HENDON,

LONDON, May 2. While diving towards tho ground at n speed of 300 miles an hour, an. aeroplane piloted by Viscount Kncbworth crashed at Hcndon. Tho machine burst into flames, which rose 60 feot high. Viscount Knebworth was burned to ashes. The other occupant of the machine, Air-Craftsman Harris, was dragged clear, still living, but lie died later. Hundreds of people witnessed- the crash, which, occurred during a rehearsal for tho forthcoming Hendon air pageant. Twenty-six aeroplanes remained in the air and helplessly watched the burning wreckage. Officers declare that Viscount Knebworth, who was- in tho leading squadron, and who was diving at the rato of 300 miles an. hour, should have turned skywards 80 feet from the ground. If ho had opened his throttlo a second earlici1 ho would havo; averted the disaster.' ■The wheels of tho aeroplane struck tho ground at terrific speed, causing the aeroplane to overturn. It somersaulted half a dozen times, then burst into flames. Viscount Knebworth was 29 years of age and the-heir of the Earl of Lytton. He won fame as a boxer at Oxford University and gained his Blue for the sport. In 1929 he stood for Shoreditch as a Conservative candidate for Parliament.