SHOCKING CRASH

Hokitika Guardian, 2 December 1929, Page 5

SHOCKING CRASH

INTO N.S.W. TOWN. (Australian Press Association) SYDNEY, Dec. 1. Crashing th'roe thousand i’oet at Grenfell yesterday, a Westland Widgeon monoplane burst into Haines, and was reduced to ashes and a tangle of ironwork, while the two occupants’ bodies were so mangled that portions were strewn over tiie roadway in Forbes Street. Hundreds of people watched, horror stricken, the plane’s awful spiral d.ve The pilot was Captain H. A. Young, and he had as passenger Raymond Gilmour, of Bathurst, who was the ■" heir to a fortune, and who recently purchased this machine, which, after repairs in Sydney, had just been taken over by the new owner. Strangely enough, both these men were in the plane when it met with a minor accident in the country six weeks ago, which led to the Sydney repair; job. The plane hacl been d ing fancy turns over Grenfell yesterday, when its wings suddenly seemed to told back. The machine then nose-dived, and it struck a macadamised road surface with a. terrific crash, narrowly missing three residences and some children, who were playing close to the fatal spot, and who had frightful shock. Gilmour was a popular and daring car driver, and while he was serving in the Light Horse in Egypt and Palestine in war time, lie was noted for his daring. Captain Young served fn war time as a ‘i’lying’ Instructor. He also did much commercial flying in Australia and New Guinea, where he transported gold by plane. ,