PARACHUTIST KILLED

Greymouth Evening Star, 4 July 1938, Page 7

PARACHUTIST KILLED

TRAGEDY AT WESTPORT SELLARS’ DROP TO DEATH [per press association.] WESTPORT. July 2. G. W. Sellars, the. parachutist. 27 years of age, a native of Balclutha, who visited Westport under an engagement with the Westport Aero Club, to give two exhibitions of parachute descents at the club’s initial pageant at North Beach this afternoon, met with an untimely death. The tragedy occurred when in his first and only exhibition, at 1500 feet one of his two parachutes failed to completely open, and his emergency parachute did likewise, with the result that Sellars crashed on the beach, his death, apparently, beinginstantaneous. The limbs were found to be almost in a. state of pulp. The weather was showery and unsettled, with a. temporary lull, when the descent took place. The plane from wfliich the .jump was made was a Tiger Moth, piloted by Flight-Lieut. Parkes, a visiting airman. it was not until the parachute only partly opened that a disaster was sensed. The parachutist’s flight was checked momentarily, but he descended at a terrific speed almost straight down from the point of jumping. As he hit the beach about fifteen yards from the sea and one hundred yards from the hangar, crowds rushed from all • directions to the unfortunate man, who died almost immediately. Many people did not realise, the extent of the tragedy until the body was removed. About two hundred parachute descents had been made by Sellars withoutTlis having suffered any serious injury, although he had had some narrow escapes. Originally a fitter in the New Zealand Railways, he had alreadv gained a pilot’s certificate when, m 1931, he saw the visiting parachutist Qviller killed at Oamaru, and decided to become a parachutist himself. Until three years ago, when “Scotty" Fraser was killed making a descent at Wellington, Sellars used only one I parachute, but after that tragedy a new regulation was made requiring that two parachutes ’should be used, to give a second chance should the first fail to open. Sellars considered that the wearing of a second parachute took most of the risk out of his displays, although he was wearing two parachutes when he had one of the narrowest escapes of his life. This was ■ at Christchurch about -twelve months ago, when one of the parachutes opened as he .was climbing out of the cockpit on to the wing of the aeroplane. He missed, only by inches beingdashed against the tailplanes when the wind plucked him off the wing. On his way to make an appearance at Westport to-day, Mr. Sellars arrived in Christchurch from Auckland on Thursday morning, and left again last night. He was unwell, having re-| cently been the victim of an attack of ptomaine poisoning, from which ne had not fully recovered.

An inquest was opened to-day. when formal evidence of identification was given by D. F. Gemmil, Secretary of i the Westport Aero Club, and the inquest then adjourned sine die. The body will be taken for the funral to Dunedin, where the deceased’s parents reside. NEW DROME’S CONSTRUCTION WESTPORT, July 3. The aerial pageant was opened by the Mayor, Mr. J. Kilkenny, assisted bj r the Hon, P. C. Webb, who had flown from Wellington to-day for the occasion. Other speakers wore Messrs J. 11. Greenwood (president of Westport Aero Club) and Captain J. C. Mercer (director of Air Travel Ltd., Hokitika), who spoke on behalf of the visiting airmen. The Mayor congratulated Westport Aero Club on thp good work done in providing an aerodrome and hangar, and he predicted a great future for this form of travel in Westport. He also dwelt on the importance of aviation in defence and in communication between New Zealand and other parts of the Empire. Mr. Webb stated that it was hoped to establish at Carter’s Beach, when the drome is completed, possibly at the beginning of next winter, an air port for the Cook Strait Airways. Men were starting on the aerodrome on Monday, under the direction of Mr. A. C. Bascand, Public Works engineer. Mention was also made to the Government’s decision to dredge material from the river and use the silt for the reclaiming of land with a view to increasing the area of the aerodrome. The Minister stated he had been advised that all of the most up-to-date machinery would be used in the construction of the aerodrome and he predicted a very bright future for Westport. Touching on the Government proposal to establish steel works at Onekaka, the Minister stated that a good deal of employment would be offered in the coal mines in the Buller district.

N.2. PILOT'S DEATH. LONDON, July 2. An inquest was held on the airman Byar, who was killed on June 30. The verdict was one of death by misadventure. An Air Ministry expert disclosed that Byar was participating in searchlight exercise on an exceptionally cold night at a height of 6000 feet. He gave it as his opinion that Byar suddenly descended and the change of temperature stopped his engines. KING’S CUP RACE. WINNER’S FAST TIME. July 2. ’ The King’s Cup flying contest resulted’ in a win for A. Henshaw, flying a Mew Gull plane, with a handicap of, eleven minutes four seconds, he conceding two hours thirty-eight minutes one second to the limit man. Guthrie, in a Mew Gull, off a handicap of 18 minutes, was second. Clouston, who was accompanied by his wife, and flying a B.A. Eagle plane, with a handicap of two hours fortysix and a-half minutes, retired in the tenth lap, owing to a stoppage of the petrol tank. There were fourteen competitors. The conditions were perfect. Henshaw averaged 2361 miles an hour, the fastest in the race, for which

there is a special prize of £3OO in addition to the £BOO first prize, RUSSIAN WOMEN’S FLIGHT (Rec. July 4, 10 a.m.) MOSCOW, July 3. Three Red Army airwomen flew a single-engined seaplane from Sebastopol to Archangel in ten hours thirtythree minutes, an average speed of 142.5 miles an hour. Stalin telegraphed his congratulations. CHALLENGER DAMAGED. (Received July 4, 1 p.m.) DARWIN, July 4. The flying-boat Challenger arrived at Darwin, last evening. The time from Southampton was seven days four hours, and the distance covered was 10,554 miles. In a high wind, the oil-tanker which was refuelling the Challenger broke away from its moorings, andi crashed into the flying-boat, extensively denting the float. As a result, the Challenger will not continue the flight until Tuesday.