FORCED LANDING

Evening Star, Issue 20983, 23 December 1931, Page 9

FORCED LANDING

MISHAP TO SOUTHERN STAR PILOT AND PASSENGERS UNINJURED Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright. LONDON, December 21. The Southern Star, piloted by Flight-lieutenant Allen, who was accompanied by two passengers, one of whom was Mrs Cooper, of Southampton, when flying from Hamble after having been reconditioned at Croydon in readiness for her mail flight to-mor-row, lost her way in the mist, and made a forced landing in a field at Crocken Hill, .Kent. She struck trees, damaging the propeller and the undercarriage, but the occupants were not injured. An eye-witness says it would have been a perfect landing if the jtrees had not intervened. The Southern gtar lies in an orchard. A later Teport says that the undercarriage was smashed. One engine is jhalf-buried in the ground, and the swings are out of alignment. Police are guarding the wreckage throughout the pight. Engineers will dismantle the J)lan© to-morrow for repairs, which will antail complete rebuilding. The Post Office has' not yet arranged for the mails to go by another plane. Air-commodore Kingsford Smith had Informal talks with the Air Ministry, but it ia understood that owing to the absence of Colonel Brinsmead, no further concrete plan for a regular Anglo.'Australian air service wore formulated. HOW THE TROUBLE OCCURRED THE PILOT'S ACCOUNT. LONDON, December 21. Flight-lieutenant Allen, in the Southern Star, left Hamble at 3.30 jn the afternoon with sufficient petrol for a flight of two hours. Darkness* was setting in, and he flew into murk, in .which it was impossible to see the Neon beacon at Croydon or the flares, which were fired when he did not appear. Allen thereupon flew- jn an easterly direction in order to come in on the Continental route. He informed Kingsford Smith by telephone that he was flying above Orpington, and that the petrol'was fast being consumed. He decided to land on the first seemingly level patch, but he discovered that it was an orchard, into which he crashed, bumping into a fairly large tree. He shut off the engines, which were intact, but the wheels were torn off, the undercarriage was smashed, the fuselage was strained, and pierced by a email tree, and the propeller was broken. Allen assured Kingsford Smith that •there was*no major damage, and the .wings were intact. "When asked if he was hurt he replied: "You cannot hurt any part of a Scotsman except his feelings."- :. i ; Kingsford Smith hopes that the delay will not exceed four or five days, and he is determined to get the air mail to Australia. "I am never free from worries when on the ground, and I shall be glad when I am able to rest > and recover in the air," he said. MAILS FOR AUSTRALIA LONDON, December 22. TJp to last night the Post Office had collected 75,000 letters for the Southern Star, which is strongly guarded against souvenir hunters. AN UNFORTUNATE DELAY LONDON, December 22. , (Received December 23, at 8.30 a.m.) Kingsford Smith's return is delayed indefinitely, no other machine being available, and he must await repairs. The damage is apparently more severe than was at first thought. The decision of the Post Office is awaited. It is holding 70,000 letters addressed to Australia and New,Zealand. OFFERS OF HELP LONDON, December 22. XReceived December 23, at 12.20 p.m.) Although Kingsford Smith is hopeful of being able to start within a week, engineers are of opinion that this is too optimistic, as the whole of the fuselage must be dismantled and rebuilt. Even if »n overhaul discloses no other Samage this cannoTbe completed~under three weeks, and it normally takes six weeks. The Dutch 'Air Line offered to take [the mail to Batavia, where it could be picked up by an Avro machine from 'Australia. Imperial Airways volunteered to take the mail to Karachi on December 26. Kingsford Smith, in gratefully acknowledging these examples of generosity, declared that they .were unnecessary, as he could have a test flight within a, week and reach Sydney .within three weeks.