MISS JEAN BATTEN

Evening Post, Volume CXXI, Issue 22, 27 January 1936, Page 14

MISS JEAN BATTEN

HER CRASH IN SUSSEX

(From "The Post's" Representative.) LONDON, January 4.

Illustrated supplements of the great London dailies, which give a pictorial record of a remarkable year, all include a photograph of Miss Jean Batten, and record her achievement in crossing the South Atlantic in record time. Moreover, she is invariably proclaimed as the young New Zealand aviator. Since her return to this country she has had an accident in which she hurt her head a little and damaged the aeroplane which served her so well on her r.ecord flight. A short time before the accident Miss Batten had taken delivery of her aeroplane when it was landed from a boat at Southampton. On her -way back to London she experienced coil trouble and was forced to make a landing in a field near Lynch's Farm, Bepton, about three miles from Midhurst. In coming down Miss Batten just managed to clear a wood, but struck the top of a low hedge, which fortunately gave way. After receiving attention at the farmhouse she was taken by farm workers ,to the surgery of a doctor at Midhurst. Miss Batten decided to spend the night at a local hotel. A special correspondent of the "Daily Express" at Midhurst obtained a statement from Miss.Batten, who was suffering from a swollen forehead, and had a plaster over her right eye. "I had just taken delivery at Southampton of my Gipsy VI Gull aeroplane, and had intended to.fly it back to the Gravesend Aerodrome," she said. "While I was crossing the downs the clouds hung rather low, so I dropped altitude, and was flying quite low when suddenly the engine cut out. It came to life again for a second or two and then packed up for good. I knew I had to land as best I could. Below was wooded country and ploughed fields and, believe me, I had no time to be selective. I saw what looked like the best landing ground available and glided down. I tried to clear a small willow hedge, but the undercarriage hit it, and one of the wheels was carried away. The aeroplane 'pancaked' into a clover field and carried crazily on for a short distance." . As she crashed she was sent forward, and her head hit the windMiss" Batten travelled by car to London. '