TRAPPED IN PLANE

Evening Star, Issue 22890, 23 February 1938, Page 18

TRAPPED IN PLANE

AUSTRALIAN PILOT'S DEATH "ENGINE BOILED" SAYS PASSENGER A dramatic story of his escape from a burning plane was told at an inquest at Wagga (New South Wales) last week, by Henry Raymond Bamford Fitzgerald, fitttcr in No. 1 Squadron of the Royal Australian Air Force, stationed at Lavcrton. Ftizgerald was _ flying in a Hawker Demon plane, which crashed at Cootamundra on December 5. His story of the accident was told at the inquest into the death of Pilot-officer Jack Frederick Fallon, aged 20 years, who was trapped in the plane. The coroner recorded a finding of death by misadventure. Ho said that no evidence had been given to show that the machine was nob airworthy, The engine had apparently “ run out.” Fallon was a competent pilot and was quite capable of making an emergency landing. The accident was unaccountable. There was no evidence to show that the Air Force contributed in any wav to the accident. Death was duo to "a fractured skull and burning. Sergeant Walsh, of the Cootamundra police, said that he visited the scene of the crash and saw the plane burning. The body of Fallon was inside, but the flames were so fierce that nothing could be done to remove the body then., “ HIT GROUND AT ANGLE.”Fitzgerald has been a patient in the Cootamundra District Hospital since the crash. His story was told in a written statement, which he supplemented later. His arm was in a sling, and he had to be assisted into court. In his written statement Fitzgerald said: “ About 2.55 p.m. on December 5, after having filled the petrol tanks and inspected the water tank, I took off in the plane with Fallon from Cootamundi\a. After about seven minutes in the air the engine began to boil. Fallon did not appear to notice this. Shortly afterwards the engine became very rough, vibrating the plane badly. “ Fallon said something to mo, but all I could hear was ‘ Forced landing.’ Ho immediately turned the nose down and looked for somewhere to land. There was a paddock immediately below us which looked suitable. He made for it. “ Getting near the ground Fallon said: ‘ I am just about out to it,’ or words to that effect. He made a normal approach to the paddock, bub the machine did not flatten out, and_ it appeared to hit the ground at a gliding angle. When the machine hit it bumped and flipped over - on its hack, catching fire immediately. “ I undid my safety belt and began to kick the side of the plane, where 1 knew there was a removable panel. In a few seconds the panel was on fire, and that made it easier to kick out. I made my way out and looked around to see if I could do anything for the pilot, but the front cockpit was right down on the ground. I could not see the pilot for the lire. CLOTHING ON FIRE. “ I was on fire myself, and turned from the plane to avoid any bursting of the petrol tank. I took off my parachute harness, flying suit, _ and shirt, which were on fire. I was just getting my singlet off when Mr Thomas Bannon arrived. I asked him to pull my burning singlet off, which he did. He also put out a fire in my sock near the ankle.” Under cross-examination Fitzgerald said that Fallon had not complained of being ill. There was nothing wrong with the management of the plane. To the best of his knowledge all the inspections required by the Air Force were carried out before the plane left Cootamundra. i Squadron-leader Allan Moorhouse Charles AVorth, commander of No. 1 Squadron at Laverton, said that the squadron came from Richmond to Cootamundra on December 5. On the return journey, after passing over Bethungra Range, he missed two planes. He turned round in the direction of Cootamundra and saw a plane in flames and another circling over it. “I returned to Cootamundra and went by car to the scene,” he said. “ I inspected the ground on which the wreckage lay. It was on a slight slope, but a safe landing could have been made. “A CAPABLE PILOT.” “ Pilot-officer Fallon was posted to my unit in July, 1937. He had 260 flying hours in all types of planes, and about 130 hours in Demon planes. He was regarded as a capable pilot, apart from a few small ‘ teething ’ troubles during the first few weeks with the unit. “ The usual inspections were made before leaving Cootamundra. One theory is that the engine may have run too long on the ground and had then gut out in the air because of water in the carburettor. Distilled water is used to prevent rust or scales in the radiator. Rain water would not account for the engine boiling. The only reason I can suggest why the nose of Fallon’s machine struck the ground is that he did not flatten out at the moment of landing.” “