CRASH OF KOTARE

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 109, 11 May 1938, Page 12

CRASH OF KOTARE

PILOTS TRAPPED

SUDDENNESS OF FIRE

(By Telegraph—Press Association.) • AUCKLAND, May 10. In tragic circumstances today a Knlor pilot of Union Airwsys, Ltd., ; Commander C. M. Duthie, and Ms copilot, Second Officer W. J. Peel, " we«« killed or bnrnt to death when the Lockheed Electra 12-passenger low-wing monoplane Kotare crashed and bunt into flames a few minutes after taking off on her retarn flight from Mangere to Wellington. There were no passengers. Union Airways' officials who watched the Crash were powerless ( to help the airmen, who were incinerated in the blazing machine within a few seconds of it striking the ground. Eye-witnesses state that the monoplane took off on its return ' flight half. an hour after arriving from Wellington. The Kotare bad lieeh subjected to the usual survey. Conditions were clear and there was n4 hint of impending tragedy. The monoplane did not gain altitude and officials at the aerodrome watched her from the moment she took off till the crash. The first announcement concerning the crash was made by Mr. C. B. V. 'Wheeler, manager of the Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand, Ltd., at Auckland, who, reported that the Kotare, ZK-AFC, took off from Mangere for Wellington at the usual hour with two pilots and a quantity of mail. A few. minutes after taking off the "monoplane was seen to be forced down a mile west of the aerodrome. As the monoplane crashed it burst intd flames. , Union Company representatives who saw* the plane forced down were on ithei scene ■by motor-car and on foot within four minutes. When they arrived both pilots were dead. ' The Lockheed had just come up from Wellington on the morning run, and Commander Keith Brownjohn, who piloted her, stated that to his knowledge the engines were in good order. He said he could tell nothing of the ' tragedy, although he had seen the machine take off. , . .

Commander Duthie and Second-Offi-cer Peel tjook their Seats at this controls and the monoplane turned into the wind, sped dpwn the runway, and lifted over the creek below and turned her head Jiarth. Watchers on the ground kept their eyes on it and saw it rise to take about the usual altitude when taking off and circle slowly, heading round towards the south. It did not . gain altitude, and the ground staff „ and Union Airway officers gathered about,, the hangar suddenly saw it plunge tbwards 'the ground/Then they saw the crash and a sudden burst of ; flame, and smoke rose. The onlookers .rushed, immediately to cars, and, with emergency fire equipment, made up the road to the scene of the tragedy. MASS OF FLAMES. ' It was' a terrible sight that presented itself to them. Across a swampy creek among a"clump of trees r some of which had heen broken by the crash, lay the bluing structure of the plane, its wings crumpled back, its tail broken off, and its- nose bent and embedded in the inUddy ground. The cabin was. a mass of flame, and,'although Union Airways staff men tried to get close enough to ijse the fire extinguishers, it was impossible because of the heat. They could that it was impossible to do anything for the pilots trapped inside. They would by that time have been beyond help. Mr A. N. Patterson, the engineer, and other helpers, however, gradually attacked 'the flames with extinguishers, and as the fire burnt out or was conquered, the charred bodies of the two inen were revealed. -. From their post tion in the machine it was impossible to jay* definitely whether they had been lulled instantaneously by the shock of the crash or whether they had been burnt as they attempted to make their W>y, to the rear door. The latter theory seemed highly improbable in the circumstances. In'the meantime ambulances had been called from the city. At 1-o'clock the machine was still burning, and as yet those at. the scene hid been unable to take the remains of the two men from it. Among those •who assisted to quell the flames was Commander Brownjohn, who an hour or two before had piloted the Kotare, carrying six passengers, from Wellington. „ When the flames had died down sufficiently the bodies of the two men were removed and taken to the morgue. The scene of the crash and the remains of the plane were then given over to the police. An inquiry will be held later. Aside from the immediate tragedy, \ the crash of the Kotare- had another significance. . It marred the hitherto Clean record of New Zealand's major airline; and it was the first accident that had befallen one of the airliners employed by Union Airways son main trunk services. Fortunate only in the circumstances was the fact that on this flight there were no passengers. Passengers who arrived by the aeroplane this, morning were Mrs. D. McMillan, from Wellington; Mr. E. C. Trickey, from Palmerston JJorth, and Mr. S. J. Gudsell, Mrs. E. McLean, Mr. H. A. Purser, and Miss P. Purser, from New .Plymouth. '