AIR DISASTER

Evening Star, Issue 22209, 11 December 1935, Page 11

AIR DISASTER

BELGIAN LINER CRASHES IN KENT TEH PEOPLE KILLED Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright LONDON, December 10. (Received December 11, at 11 a.m.) Ten people were killed when a Belgian air liner crashed in Kent, eu route to Croydon. CRASH HEARD TWO MILES AWAY SIR JOHN CARDEN KILLED. LONDON, December 10. (Received December 11, at 2 p.m.) The worst disaster to a civil aeroplane in England occurred at Tatsfield, Kent, when an Italian triple-engined “ Savoia ” monoplane, bought by the Belgian Sebena Company and flying from Brussels to Croydon, crashed in a field. Eleven people were killed, including Sir John Carden. The crash was heard two miles away, and is described as the most complete imaginable. Everything seemed to be smashed to pieces, and the bodies were terribly mutilated. , The machine carried a pilot, an engineer, a wireless operator, a steward, and seven passengers, three of whom were British, and four Germans travelling from Cologne to London. The liner appeared to be slightly off her course, and when close to Tatsfield was observed to be flying low, presumably owing to ice on the wings. The people in the neighbourhood saw one wing hit the tree tops on a small hill near Pateie Hill. The machine staggered, and the pilot apparently tried to gain height, but crashed into the summit of Palsie Hill and dropped. Many rushed to the scene, but the pasJ sengers and- crew appeared to be killed instantly. The machine did not catchfire. Sir John Carden was well known at the Heston Airport, where he designed and built the aeroplane engines bearing his name. It is stated that every tank in the British Army was designed by Sir John, who was himself a pilot. Lately he had shown particular interest in light machines. It was his engine with which S. V. Appleby last week flew the Channel in the “ Flying Flea.”