W. M. O'HARA'S DEATH

Evening Post, Volume CXXI, Issue 128, 1 June 1936, Page 10

W. M. O'HARA'S DEATH

A TERRIBLE CRASH IN FULL VIEW OF FRIENDS (From "The Post's" Representative.) SYDNEY, May 27. The tragic death of Mr. W. M. O'Hara, the wealthy young East Indies planter and airman, came as a blow not only to his many frends in Sydney, but to the general public. They had learnt to admire the intrepid nature of a man who, practically defying an official, ban, flew from Sydney to New Zealand. ] O'Hara was killed when his Klemm Eagle aeroplane crashed and burst into flames at Cadogan Station,- 39 miles from Dubbo, in Western New South Wales, just after O'Hara had taken off. The aeroplane had circled the landing ground and was headed for Dubbo. | The pilot waved to friends below and suddenly his aeroplane plunged earth- j wards. The aeroplane had stalled at an altitude of about 200 feet. It crashed to the ground, and within aj few minutes was a mass of burnt wreckage. Death is considered to have been instantaneous, as practically every bone in O'Hara's body vvas broken, and there were also extensive head injuries. Mr. O'Hara had been spending a three days' holiday at the home of Mr. R. E. S. Boyce, son of Mr. Justice Boyce, on Cadogan Station. Last Sunday morning Mr. O'Hara with members of the house party went out in a motor-car to a paddock abput a mile 'from the homestead, where the Klemm, Eagle aeroplane was parked. It was Mr. O'Hara's intention to call at Dubbo and pick up a hat which he had left in Dubbo over the picnic races.' Then he intended to go down to Cootamundra and have lunch with the aviator Butler, who flew from England to Australia some years ago, and is now at the head of the mail air lines which operate from Cootamundra to Charleville. CRASH AND EXPLOSION. The tragedy came about with appalling suddenness. Mr. Boyce said that Mr. O'Hara was in the air only about five minutes when the crash occurred. He waved to his friends at the car, circled to the north, came back to the south, and was banking slightly into the wind about 50 yards from where the party wis standing. The engine appeared to be running smoothly when the machine seemed to stall and' then dropped to the ground. Immediately it struck the earth there was a terrific explosion, and flames burst from the petrol tank and enveloped the aeroplane. For a few minutes the fire burnt with terrific intensity, and reduced the aeroplane to small wreckage. O'Hara was thrown from the cockpit, and his'body struck the earth about 4ft from where the aeroplane crashed. The heat was so intense that it was impossible to approach the aeroplane, though, after the first shock of the tragedy, Mr. Boyce ran across the field, and tried to get near the body to drag it out of the reach of the flames. He was driven back by the heat, and the party coud only stand in impotent horror as the flames swept across the body. A young man named Roberts, whose father owns the homestead adjoining, saw the crash, and he ran to his home and told his father of the tragedy. Together they raced to the scene, and with the aid of a long pole several of the party were able to pull the body out of the range of the flames. MACHINE TOTALLY DESTROYED. The aeroplane was destroyed, even aluminium parts of the engine being reduced to small heaps of powder, resembling powdered chalk; Over a radius of about 60 yards were to be seen pieces of the aeroplane that had been blown about in the wind or catapulted when the aeroplane struck the earth. The speedometer of the aeroplane was found about 35 yards away from the wreck. It registered a speed of 130 miles an hour. A number of lantern views of New Zealand scenes were found about 15 feet away. The machine was operating under a New Zealand certificate of airworthiness. Originally the machine had an Australian certificate, but this was cancelled before the famous New Zealand flight, because additional petrol tanks were installed. Under the provisions of the International Air Convention the New Zealand certificate was accepted in Australia, and the question of a local certificate did not arise. The machine had been thoroughly overhauled and tested since its arrival at Mascot. Mr. O'Hara returned on the Monowai a month ago. He had since been preparing his aeroplane for a leisurely flight to Java, and he was on the first Stage to Adelaide (having left Sydney last Tuesday) when the tragedy occurred. A PERSONAL TRIBUTE. i Professor B. D. Watt, Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Sydney, who knew Mr. O'Hara 1 intimately, said that the dead man had never been a reckless or irresponsible seeker after publicity. By his passing Australia, New Zealand, and Java had lost a modest man of rare gifts and charming personality. "After four years spent on rubber plantations in | Java_ he felt the necessity for some training in the fundamental principles of his calling," said Professor Watt. "He therefore came down to Sydney in 1926 and spent a year in the Faculty of Agriculture. In all his doings he appeared to be a lover of adventure who did not mind taking reasonable risks. These characteristics were subsequently shown when he returned to Java. The price of rubber fell far below the average cost of production. Against the advice of all his friends he bought up estate after estate at a very low price. He then started to put into practice more scientific methods than his competitors, thereby doubling and even trebling his yield per acre. As he anticipated, the price of rubber began to rise again, with the result that within a few years he was a wealthy man. He was a man of wide reading and culture and the highest ideals, and one who regarded his wealth as a sacred stewardship, doing kind and generous acts in an unostentatious way."