QUEENSLAND ’PLANE-CRASH

Greymouth Evening Star, 16 November 1934, Page 7

QUEENSLAND ’PLANE-CRASH

UNEXPLAINED TRAGEDY MAIL SERVICE SUSPENDED I [BY CABLE —PBESS ASSN. —COPYBIGHT.] LONGREACH, November 15. In the air crash, the fourth victim was named Emery Hugh Broadfoot, aged 29 years, of South Kensington, Sydney. He was a representative of the Shell Oil Company. Pilot Prendergast was the Chief Pilot. The Imperial Airways Company brought this liner from England, for delivery to the Quantas Airways. The other members of the crew were employed by the Imperial Airways Company. The accident, which caused a painful sensation in aviation circles, occurred three miles from Barsdale homestead. It happened a quarter of an hour after the taking-off from Longreach, and when men from the homestead reached the scene, they found that three members of the crew were already dead. Broadfoot was still alive, but he died later. The plane, apparently, dived. It was badly wrecked. The bodies were terribly mangled. An eye-witness states that the machine gave the impression that the pilot was endeavouring to return to Longreach, but the machine fell.’ suddenly, on the regular mail route, in lightly-timbered country. The machine had left Darwin on Tuesday afternoon for Brisbane, but jt landed at Avon Downs for petrol. It reached Longreach at 6 p.m. yesterday. A tragic coincidence is that Broadfoot was the Shell Oil Company’s representative at Darwin during the Air Race, he having been substituted there for Henrikson, who was killed in the air crash at Winton on October 4, before the air race, while he was on his way to Darwin. Broadfoot was due to travel in the same plane, but missed it.

PILOTS CHANGE OVER (Rec. Nov. 16, 11a.m.) BRISBANE, November 16. The fact that Captain Prendergast was not in the control cabin at the time of - the crash was an important discovery of the preliminary investigation, and it is expected to enable the Air Accidents Investigation Committee to determine the cause of the mishap. Prendergast’s body, with that of Broadfoot, was found at the rear of the plane, and those of Creastes and Charlton in the pilots’ seats, suggesting that a change over of controls occurred before the machine went into a spin and hit the ground at 160 miles an hour, the figure at which the speed indicator had stopped. WIDOW’S SAD BIRTHDAY. (Recd. November 16, 10 a.m.) LONDON, November 15. The remaining De Havilland, 86, is intended by the Quantas schedule to fly from England next week. The arrangements ar.e now held up, pending details of the Longreach accident. . Charlton was ten years with the Imperial Airways, and had flown oyer 6000 hours. Yesterday was his wife’s birthday. She said the news was all the more terrible, because she had asked her husband not to go. LONG FLYING SERVICE. LONDON, November 15. The Quantas crash created a painful impression in London, in view' of the unfortunate preliminaries to the 1931 Christmas air mail. The Imperial Airways have not been officially advised of the Quantas temporary suspension of the air-mail arrangements, but are confident that unless the investigations involved any sweeping change in plans, it will still be possible to adhere to the original schedule, despite the loss of the machine. Prendergast had flown 6300 hours during seven years in the Air Force and four years with the Imperial Airways. His colleague, Creastes, had flown 1560 hours. He joined the Imperial Airways in May, after ten years in the Air Force.

FEDERAL CABINET CONCERN. CANBERRA, November 15. The Federal Cabinet to-day ordered an immediate investigation into the air crash near Longreach. Meanwhile, the inauguration of the air mail between Australia and Singapore has been suspended. The Deputy-Prime Minister, Doctor Earle Page, said that every precaution would be taken to avoid any further accidents. Mr A. Parkhill, the Minister of Defence, said that the Longreach disaster, following so closely upon the loss of the air liner Miss Hobart, off the Victorian coast, necessitated the closest inquiry into the whole question. Officials of the Civil Aviation Department, together with Captain Lester Brain, and Chief Pilot W. Baird (works manager for Quantas Limited) have left for the-scene of the accident in the Diana biplane, which was the first machine brought from England for the Austrailan-Singapore section. A third similar machine arrived aboard the freighter “Bendigo” on Monday, and it is to be assembled here.

Mr Hudson Fysh, managing director of Quantas Airways, stated that the cause of the crash is a complete mystery. Pilot Prendergast was a most experienced airman. He had brought the Imperial Airways plane “Astraea” to Australia last June, and he was familiar -with the Australian conditions.

McGREGOR’S WORTH SPEECHES AT HASTINGS. HASTINGS, November 15. “You are all in my opinion years too late. I knew McGregor was one of the finest pilots in the world years ago,” said Wing Commander Grant Dalton, ex-Director of Air Services of New Zealand, in a speech of welcome at Hastings aerodrome to-day, to McGregor, Walker, Hewett, Kay and Stan White, the Havelock North airman, who landed here on Tuesday, after a leisurely flight from England to Sydney. Continuing, Grant Dalton, added: “What McGregor did was very fine, but it was no finer than what he did in the War, nor than he can do at any time. As he is a New Zealander, you don’t realise it. If he had belonged to some other country, you would I realise it, but now you think he is | just an ordinary person.” Praise for White, Hewett and Kay

was also expressed by the Wing Commander, who in reference to Hewett and Kay, said that their feat was only the beginning to a regular air service linking up this country with the rest of the world. Other speakers who welcomed the fliers were G. A. Maddison, Mayor of Hastings, and Mr. A. E. Jull, Member for Waipawa. Mr Jull said: “Eventually this country will have to take •to the air whether it likes it or not.” As to Government assistance, it is very desirable there should be co-op-eration between the Government and local authorities to ensure the laying out and maintenance of the best available aerodromes. All possible help should be given to the infant industry air transport. After advising Hawke’s Bay to try to obtain proper recognition, Mr Jull said in reference to the performances of the visiting pilots: “It seems as though this is only the beginning of a series of similar enterprises by which the Antipodes will be linked up with the rest of the world, and in which journeys which once took months will he performed in as many days.” .

HEWETT AND KAY. PALMERSTON N., November 15. Aircraftsman R. Johnson, of Hobsonville and the North Auckland Aero Club’s ground engineer at Mangere, flew down from Auckland, arriving at Milson late this afternoon, to commence the work of repairing the damage to the Dragon. The work is continuing throughout the night, and it is stated the engineers considered they had a fair chance of getting through with the job by midday to-morrow or early afternoon, in which case Hewett and Kay will leave for Auckland without further delay. KHARTOUM TO LOWER HUTT. WELLINGTON, November 15. A New Zealander, Flying-Officer G. T. Jarman, son of a Lower Hutt resident, is now engaged on a flight home to New Zealand from Khartoum, in Africa, via India. . BROOK-LAY ARRIVAL. ; SYDNEY, November 15. A message from Wyndham- states that H. L. Brook and Miss Lay, airrace entrants, arrived there from Koepang to-day. LOS ANGELES TO JAPAN. „ LOS ANGELES, November 15. Monty Mason, of Los Angeles, announced yesterday his plans to take off on a non-stop flight from Los Angeles to Japan, a distance of 6400 miles. He will do so about December 1. He hopes to have Emory Bronte as navigator. He plans to fly at an altitude of from 15,000 to 25,000 feet, and to make the trip in 37 hours. Mr Robert Sherman Ross, a wealthy Beverley Hills resident, is aiding in the backing of the flight. Mason will use the “Flying Wing” plane. It is an adaptation of a ship designed by the late Mr C. K. Vance. The plane has a small two-plane cabin on top of a huge wing, 55 feet 6 inches long, and 13 feet 6 inches wide at its widest point. It has gasolene tanks holding 1156 gallons, which with radio equipment and other essentials, are housed in the big wing; and two outriggers lead to the tail section. Using a controllable pitch propeller, Mason hopes to attain a speed of 250 miles an hour.

OIL ENGINES. RUGBY, November 15. Sir P. Sassoon, replying to a question in the Commons, as to whether in view of the need of very high fuel economj’’ on the long flights of the Empire mail services, steps were'being taken to have the machines powered with oil engines, said the Air Ministry for some time had been taking active part in the development of heavy oil engines, one of which recently passed a flight test and was flown successfully, and was now available for use by civil aviation. He was not prepared however, to -agree that Empire air mail services could satisfactorily be performed by heavy oil engines only.

"FOKKER’S STATEMENT. AMSTERDAM. November 15. Fokker admitted negotiations in England directed to building both Fokker and Douglas aeroplanes. The site is not yet chosen, though certain towns are favourable. Politics would play an important part in his plans. England, he said, was only now realising how far she is behind aircraft manufacture, and the capacity and construction of certain types of machines built at Amsterdam, and unknown in England. A RUSSIAN’S VISION. (Recd. November 16, 1 p.m.) LONDON, November 15. Igor Sikorskey, a Russian-American air expert, lecturing to the Royal Aeronautical Society foreshadowed seaplanes weighing 100,000 pounds, making possible individual cabins, luxurious lounges, dining-rooms comparable with ocean liners, cruising at 150 to 200 miles hourly. These should be ready in 1938. Greater speeds were possible, but .the size of the earth would not warrant them. The flying altitude of commercial air-liners will be twelve to twenty thousand feet, which is clear of the majority of air disturbances.