THREE FATALITIES IN TWO DAYS

Evening Star, Issue 15480, 30 April 1914, Page 9

THREE FATALITIES IN TWO DAYS

Tragedy upon tragedy has plunged tha British Army aviation camps at Salisbury into bitter grief. Within a period of 24 hours three of the bravest officers in the service were killed in two terrible flying disasters, the victims were : Captain C. R. W. Allen, 55, Welsh Hegimejit, Lieutenant J. E. Burroughs, 50, Wiltshire Regiment, and Captain Cyril Percy Downer, 56, Northampton Regiment.. Captain Allen and Lieutenant Burroughs left the aerodrome at Netheravon in a B. E. tractor biplane, driven by an 80-h.p. Gnome engine. The captain, who was aviator of much experience, took the pilot's seat, and Lieutenant Burroughs, who has not been at Netheravop very long, went with him as a passenger. It was a' beautijful morning for flying. There was but little wind, and the biplane, which" on the previous day had been out in quite ; a stiff wind, rose in splendid fashion from the new asphalted surface" south of the hangars. It was during a circuit of the aerodrome that the mishap occurred. The biplane had been up only a few minutes "when the mechanics at the sheds noticed the rudder flutter away from the machine, and immediately the aeroplane turned its nose downwards and crashed to the ground from a height of about 250 feet. A couple j of civilians who had been watching the I flight from a plantation about 40 yards from where the machine fell rushed to the j spot, and doctors and flying men soon followed, but the unfortunate officers were I dead before help could reach them. Captain Allen had fallen from his seat and fell clear of the machine, but Lieutenant Burroughs remained in his place, and his body was found amid the wreckage. Death must have been' instantaneous in each case. The biplane, which is said to be —One of the Oldest Machines—in the Service, was an utter wreck. One of the propeller blades lay alongside the wings; the engine was buried in the earth, the petrol tank was-destroyed, and the fuselage twisted like a corkscrew. The under-planes were smashed to fragments, the ribs and canvas broken, and the upper planes fractured at the ribs, the brass studs being forced out. The wreckage was placed under a guard of! men of the Flying Corps, to await the j investigation of the Court of Inquiry. The rudder and its attachments, however, were removed at once for expert examina-. tion. Captain Allen was a Bristol man,and was the senior flight commander of. No 3 Squadron. He was commissioned as second lieutenant in the Welsh Regiment on May 7, 1898, and was adjutant of Indian Volunteers for five years from April, 1906. Lieutenant Burroughs was a son of the late Rev. E. R. Burroughs, of Manilla road, Clifton. He was at Glif». ton College for six years, leaving in 1900. He was commissioned second lieutenant from the Militia to the Wiltshire Regiment on May 20, 1905, and became lieutenant in March, 1907. —Dive to Death From a Height of 2,000 ft Captain Downer was killed under very similar circumstances. One of the nioet popular officers in the sendee, 'he had passed through the Stall College, joining the aviation class at tho Central Flying School on January 27 last, and .had bfeen about sis weeks under; instruction. The course of tuition, however, was very much restricted in consequence of the inclementweather prevailing in February and during the present month. On the morning of the fatality, however, the weather cleared, and Captain Downer took out a B.E. biplane, filed with a 70 h.p Renault engine. After being in the air some minutes he rose to a height of 2,000 ft, and then, making a wide sweep of the flying ground £ he appeared to be descending at a greet' pace. When about 600 ft from the earth the momentum of descent became terrific, and with a sickening crash the machine struck the ground about a mile away from the school. When an ambulance arrived' on the spot tho biplane was found to be a complete wreck, and amongst the debris was the body of tho unfortunate pilot, who had apparently stuck to his seat and met a.n instantaneous death- The engine was completely embedded in the soil and chalk, and the wings smashed to atoms. It was stated at the inquest that deceased had been up on the machine on previous occasions. It was a type which had been in constant use for 12 months, and had been found very satisfactory. Captain Salmond, instructor at the school, said he tested the machine, and went up in it before Captain Downer ascended. It was in perf«ct condition. Capf-ain Downer had made 23 flights al-< together whilst at the school, and had flown atone.. Witness watched the flight, and noticed the ma-ohine, when about 2,000 ft up. begin to-descend rapidly, and at a steep angle. He Captain Downer must have .lost control. He heard no explosion. One wins broke off, and fpll when the machine was ?50ft from the earth. The wing was 50vds Viway from wbeTe the machine fell. The fact that the machine was travelling too fast and too steeply accounted for the wing breaking. , Another eye-witness said the machine " came down to earth like a firework."

Experts pxolair.fid an alleged explosion by saying that the noise heard was probably the wing breaking, and the smoke would be from the exhaust. There were no signs of fire amonsst the wreckaae.

A verdict of "Accidental death" was returned, the jury expressing sympathy with the relatives, .

Captain Downer was unmarried, and was a son of the Rev. Dr Downer, a Church of England clercryman." His home was in Sufeeei. He served in the South African War» in the 2nd Northants Retrfment under Lord Methuen, saw the brunt of the fieliting,* and was. present at- the-' Mcdder River eneaeement. He received the "King's and Queen's nredals. He wai with the Ist Northants in India, and en* tered the Staff Cnlleee in 1911. Uron passing ' fhrou'irh this'he became attached to the Flyinsr Corps. A warm tribute to the dead aviator was paid by Colonel Seely in the House of Commons. " That he 'lost -bis life in the service of the Army as fully as if he had died on the field of battle nobody Will deny," he said, amid approving cheers.