DE HAVILLANDS BARRED

Greymouth Evening Star, 14 December 1935, Page 7

DE HAVILLANDS BARRED

SEQUEL TO ACCIDENTS AUSTRALIAN DECISION [by CABLE—PRESS .ASSN. —COPYRIGHT.]

MELBOURNE, December 13.

Another Holy man air liner, the Lepena, of the D.H. 86 type, carrying two pilots and eight passengers, made a forced landing on Hunter Island, off the west coast of Tasmania today, owing to a wing crumpling in mid air. The passengers were in grave peril. It is reported that nobody was injured. The Lepena left Launceston for Melbourne via King Island, on the north-west, coast of Tasmania. She had a heavy load of mail, due to the shipping hold up. The chief pilot noticed one wing was collapsing when in the vicinity of Hunter Island, which is a lonely and uninhabited place. He decided to rush there and to try to land. Meanwhile he sent radio messages, describing the plight of the craft, which were received by both the* Tasmanian .and . Victorian _S,ta* tions. ;He brought, the machine 'down in rough country, without injuring the passengers, but the Lepena was practically wrecked. Alight aeroplane has been sent from Tasmania and. also a launch, to bring the passengers and crew back to Launceston.

The Minister of Defence, Mr A. Parkhill, announced this aftelmoon that it had been decided to suspend the certificate of airworthiness for allof the D.H. 86 aircraft in use in Australia. This suspension will apply immediately, even to the machines which are outside Australia, carrying the English air mail. COMPANY’S COMMENT (Rec. December 14, 11 a.m.) LONDON, December 13. An official of De Havilland’s says: “The suspension of D.H. 86’s is incredible. We have no information of the decision. It is impossible to comment. The machines have a splendid record of airworthiness in England. It is true that the snapping of a flying wire on the wing is unusual, but it is not desperately serious, as th* ultimate safe landing of the machine in question should have shown.”