CRASH OF BOMBER

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 99, 24 October 1938, Page 10

CRASH OF BOMBER

YOUNG CADET KILLED

WITNESSES' STORIES

BREAK-UP IN THE AIR

(From "The Post's" Representative.) SYDNEY, October 18.

An Air Force officer's curt denial of eye-witnesses' evidence and a Minister's conjecture were sequels to the crash of an Avro-Anson bomber, and the death of a youthful cadet.

Eye-witnesses • declared that the starboard wing of the bomber broke off while the pilot was flying on an even keel. The officer commanding the Royal Australian Air Force Richmond station, Group r Captain de la

Rue, denied that" a wing had torn away.' Told that this ,theory conflicted With the statements of eye-wit-nesses, Group-Captain de la Rue said: "These, stupid rumours always occur after an accident."

The Minister of, . Defence,. Mr. Thorby, commented: "From information I have received^ I think the crash was caused, by some, error of judgment by the pilot." The cadet was John Charles Fletcher, 19. a medical student and a mem- : ber ot the Citizen Air Force. He was the eldest son of Dr. Alan R. Fletcher and a grandson of Mr. C. Brunsdon Fletcher, formerly editor, of the "Sydney Morning Herald." Mr. Brunsdon Fletcher, in a dignified comment on Mr. Thorby's statement, said: "This is grossly unfair. An inquiry is being held; and until its decision has been given, outside comment should be withheld, above all by the Minister in charge of the Department. In our courts there is such a thing as contempt, which is punishable." BURIED IN THE GROUND. Cadet Fletcher, who qualified as a pilot four weeks ago, left the Air Force aerodrome at Richmond, about 40 miles from Sydney, on an altitude test in one of the City of Sydney, Squadron's Avro-Anson bombers, a type of machine which has been involved in several air force crashes. The bomber came down in a spin on the top of a hill at more than-400-miles an hour and buried itself seven feet in soft earth. Wreckage , was strewn. over more than two miles of paddocks. The starboard wing and, engine were found a mile and a half; from the wrecked fuselage. Fletcher's helmet and parachute'were recovered from the wreckage. His body was- beyond recognition. ■

Many residents of the district heard the machine descending from a great height. Both engines seemed to be roaring with the throttle full open, and the noise was SO' unusual that many people rushed from their homes to watch the plane., "it seemed as if the machine was in a power dive, and when I first saw it its height appeared to be about 6000 feet," said one eyewitness. "It appeared to be making a half-circle. Suddenly there was a mild explosion, and smoke seemed to burst from the plane. The starboard wing then became detached and hurtled down, landing in a paddock. The plane then went into a spin at a height1 of. at least 5000 feet.' It- got out of the tail-spin momentarily, and flew for at least three miles, but whether it was out of control or the pilot was making a desperate effort to land, it was impossible to say. The racing engines apparently made the plane shudder so violently that it fell to pieces in the air." SPREAD OVER MILES. Several, other eye-witnesses told exactly the same facts. Many people watched the machine literally falling to pieces as it hurtled to the ground. Some of the watchers thought that the pilot might be able to get out of the spin, but at a height of about 2000 feet there was another mild explosion above the roar of the engines as one engine became detached. This engine, crashed into a paddock nearly three miles from where the Wing had fallen, and the fuselage, with the second engine still intact, then nose-dived, striking the ground with, such force that the crash was heard, for miles* The machine crashed at such a terrific speed that portions were.embedded deeply in the ground, and the wreckage was piled up in a heap of tangled iron and splintered wood.

Whether Fletcher was dead before he struck the ground in the remains of the plane is a matter of conjecture, but the opinion is held that he was probably unconscious.