EXPERT INVESTIGATION

Hawera Star, Volume LIV, 17 September 1934, Page 9

EXPERT INVESTIGATION

PLANE CRASH ON EGMONT PAMS Of MACHINE SALVAGED ACCIDENT RE-CONSTRUCTED An official examination of the wreckage of the .plane ZK-ABS, owned by the Westeifn, Federated (North Island) Flying Club, was made on Saturday by aviation experts -who, witn representatives of the Taranaki and Egmont Alpine Clubs, visited the scene of Thursday’s tragic crash in the bush on the Pouakai ranges to the north of Mount Egmont. Parts ot the body work and the engine were salvagecl and carried out by the party to ears on Alfred Road. A start was made from New iriymouth at 6.30 a’clock in the morning and the party, which officially comprised .'Squadron-Leader L. M. Isitt (representing the Director of Air Services), Captain S. A. Gibbons (Wanganui), Flying-Officer lan Keith (pilotinstructor to the Western Federated Flying Club), Messrs R. Syme, H. Lightband, W. Stanton, G. Boon, J. Pankhurst, I. Anderson, C. Turner and C. Parker, had a difficult journey through the rough country to the scene of the crash. The cold was intense and rain and sleet fell throughout the morning, making the trail extremely muddy and slippery. The Kauauai River was in half flood and the men were forced to cross ii waist deep in

icy water. Every portion of the wreckage was and its position noted. As far as possible the actual nature of the crash was reconstructed, the machine s angle of flight and .poiiits of impact noted. All instruments that could be found were examined, but several were missing, presumably carried away by searchers wbo will return them to aero club officials or to the police. Sufficient evidence was collected to permit the opening of an official inquiry into the accident, which will probably be held this Week. . k , Although, until observations and evidence has been analysed, no 'decision can be come to as to what factor is most likely to have caused the accident, colour is lent to the theory that the pilot lost control at a high altitude by the complete demolition of the machine. Had engine trouble or fuel shortage been the cause the plane ■would have fallen among the trees at a comparatively slow speed and, while severe damage may have been caused, the demolition would not have been so tragically complete as it was. Members of the successful party of bushmen which located the plane on Friday morning speak highly of the part (played in the search by Mr George Burrows, whose accuracy of observation and knowledge of the difficult country, combined with that of his father, Mr Robert Burrows, brought the search to so rapid a conclusion. Mr O. Peters, who led a party of district residents in support of the investigation party on Saturday, also played a prominent part in the search, leading the second group of men on the scene.

Air Crash Victims

FUNERALS LARGELY ATTENDED

CHURCH AND' GRAVESIDE

TRIBUTES.

.Representative of every section of tiie community tnere were large attendances of tne public at the funerals m i\ew f'lymoutn yesterday of Messrs Av. Green and J. A. Austin, victims ; or tne tragic aeroplane crash in the - footnuls or Mount jtgmont last Thurs, uay. There were hundreds of 1! oral 1 tiroutes from friends, club members 1 and organisations with which both men had been associated, and prominent among those who attended were • pilots and supporters of the Western < federated Aero Clubs, if dots If. Hay- 1 bittie and A. Stroud hew from Havvera in /jK-ACLH to attend, and the same machine, piloted by Fiying-Offi-oer fan Keith, circled the cemetery • during the burial services, dipping three times in the final salute to airmen. Mr Austin's funeral left his parents' residence, -\1 an gore l Rload, after a short service conducted, there by the .Rev. J. I). McLennan Wilson, who also 1 ; read the burial service at the grave- ■ side. Those who attended remained for the service of burial for Mr Green, fall-bearers for Mr Austin Avere Messrs j \V. L. Thomson, J. Lehrke, G. Bellringer, J. H. Boon, E. Atack and T. DicKson. The official mourners Avere Messrs. J. Austin (father), C. W. Austin, Auckland, F. O. Austin, Wellington (brothers) and C. G. Lee (brother-an-IaAV). Arrangements for the funeral of Mr Green Avere made, by members of the i\eAV Plymouth Aero. Club. A brief service was conducted at St. Mary’s Church by Archdeacon G. H. Gavin, assited by the Rev. Fordham Clarke. Many hundreds attended the service, and the cortege through the toivn en route to the cemetery was nearly half a mile long. At the church the bearers comprised three members of the staff of the electricity department of the New Plymouth Borough Council, Avith Avhom Mr Green Avorked, Messrs G. Simpson, C. Freivin and L. Slyfield and three close friends, Messrs. I. Watkins, G. M. Webster and C. Harris. At the cemetery the bearers were pilots of the Neiv Plymouth Aero Club, Messrs. J. A. Pankhurst, J. Paynter. M. Dineen, C. Plumtree, H. W. Lightband and N. Derby. The graves are adjacent to each other. " The Mayor of Neiv Plymouth, Mr E. j> G. Gilmour, aa’lio attended the funexal, sent the folloAving cablegram to the Rev. J. Green, Nonvich, England: “The citizens of New Plymouth tender you their deepest sympathy in the bereavement sustained by your son’s death. He Avas highly esteemed and Are deplore his death.” Mr Gilmour / also sent a message of sympathy to the \ late Mr Austin’s parents.