“SCOTTY” FRASER KILLED IN FALL INTO SEA

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXVI, Issue 92, 30 March 1936, Page 8

“SCOTTY” FRASER KILLED IN FALL INTO SEA

Parachute Jump PIN NOT WITHDRAWN Tragedy at McGregor Apf; lai Pageant SEEN BY BIG CROWD By Telegraph—Press Association WELLINGTON, March 29. WELLINGTON, March 29. Before the eyes of thousands Pilot-Officer J. S. (“Scotty”) Praser, New Zealand’s foremost parachutist, fell 1500 feet to his death in the waters of Lyall Bay at the McGregor Appeal pageant on Saturday afternoon. He was unable to open his parachute. It is believed that a pin used in packing was not taken out before he jumped. The jump was to have been the first of two which he had volunteered to make at the pageant.

Earlier in the afternoon he had packed his parachute in the clubhouse before a group of onlookers and at •bout ten minutes to three he went •ut to the Wellington Aero Club’s

Moth-Major, ZK—ADP, and, after a few words to the pilot, Pilot-Officer K. G. Smith, tossed away his cigarette and •limbed into the front cockpit. There had been a fly-past by the dozen or so machines taking part in the demonstration and a “shooting-up” of the ground, a very spectacular exhibition, and while the last of the machines were still in the air the XK— ADP took off.

SOMETHING WRONG. The item, which was only the second parachute jump made at Rongotai, was announced through the loud-speakers and eyes were turned out over the bay to the climbing machine. A light southerly wind was blowing and, in order to land well clear of the northorn boundary of the aerodrome and the street power lines, the parachutist timed his ju-np well out in the bay. He had been making jumps at many aerodromes in New Zealand for the past several years and had made a particularly thrilling feature of delayed openings. i As the white-clad body fell from the 1 aeroplane it was thought that again he j was thrilling the spectators with a longdelayed opening, though the height was not great, not above 1500 feet. The • tall increased in velocity and when . it was half completed it was plain , that something had gone wrong. The parachutist disappeared from view behind the sand hill ridge in the last few feet of his terrific fall and immediately a great column of spray and water shot up. A gasp came from the spectators. CROWD STUNNED. The announcer at the loud-speakers was tactful, but there was a world of meaning in his words: “The jump was not so successful.” The crowd seemed stunned with horror; then there was a wild race of spectators toward the seashore. Swimmers at Lyall Bay saw the tragedy and immediately came along the beach and dashed in, with others from among the crowd, who had hastily discarded part of their clothing, and swam out about 200 or 300 yards to where the parachute, still attached to the body but burst open by the impact, floated like a buoy. Mr W. Moulton, engineer to Cook Strait Airways, was the first to reach the spot and the rescuers, who were hampered by the heavy sea running at the time, had to disengage the parachute and then bring the body ashore, where it was placed in a van and rushed from the aerodrome. Doctors said that death had been instantaneous. Pilot-Officer Fraser had been badly battered about the head and face by the impact. PIN NOT WITHDRAWN. It is believed that the temporary fastening pin which is used to hold the folds together when the parachute has been packed and while the flaps Of the canvas cover are being drawn ftrer it was not removed, as is necesflTy, end that, consequently it was

impossible for the parachute to open when the ripcord was pulled.

The 'chute was Pilot-Officer Fraser’s own and was of. the best type manufactured, being valued at about £9O. It replaced an earlier 'chute of the same make which the parachutist Lad used, and which had been torn by bushes in various and patched; but he had made several jumps with the new pack. Pilot-Officer Fraser held a parachute packer's licence and had been making public exhibitions of his art for several years. He had made over 100 jumps. PAGEANT GOES ON. In accordance with tradition established over many years by tffe Royal Air Force, the pageant was continued after the tragedy. Pilot-Officer Fraser was a married man and 42 years of age, and It is understood that there was no family. Born in Scotland, he served in the Great War with a Scottish unit and then transferred to the Royal Air Force, being sent as flight cadet to Ismalia, Egypt, where he remained until the Armistice. He came to New Zealand after the <War and for a time was coalmining on the West Coast. When the New Zealand Air Force was established as a territorial unit in 1923 he was given a commission in it as second lieutenant or pilot-officer. He resigned about 1929 or 1930. About three years ago he made two jumps at Rongotai Aerodrome, one from 1500 feet and one from 3000 feet from a machine piloted by Squadron-Leader T. W. White. VISIT TO HAWKE’S BAY First Night Jump in N.Z. The last occasion on which PilotOfficer Fraser gave a demonstration in Hawke’s Bav was at the official North Island Pageant in March, 1934, held at the Bridge Ph aerodrome under the auspices of the Hawke’s Bay and East Coast Aero Club in conjunction with the late Cir Charles KingsfordSmith’s visit to the district. Mr. Fraser gave two drops during the afternoon display and in the evening he gave the only night drop ever performed in New Zealand, landing successfully in the middle of the 'drome, the parachute being lit up with powerful searchlights from the ground during its descent. At Palmerston North last week-end Mr. Fraser gave two jumps in aid of the McGregor fund, the second one landing him in the middle of the road adjacent to the Milson aerodrome. “Scotty” Fraser’s display at Dunedin a fortnight ago was an outstanding one. Despite a 40-mile gale, he gave two drops from well outside the aerodrome boundary, exercising remarkable judgment in the control of his parachute to land each time in the centre of the aerodrome.