INQUEST FINDING

Hokitika Guardian, 20 June 1934, Page 5

INQUEST FINDING

. PLANE SMASH THE DEATH OF MR E. R. BOUCHER WELLINGTON, June 18. “The Court is •of opinion that the ■accident to ZK-AAL was due to an error of judgment.oh the part of the pilot, Ernest Roberts Boucher, in entering a cloud bank voluntarily, which could have been avoided,” states the principal clause in the- finding of the Board of Inquiry into the circumstances of the accident t-o. the. .moth aeroplane ZK-AAL at Hawkins Hill, Wellington, on March 16: last, which caused the death of Mr E. R, Boucher, of Auckand, the pilot qf the aeroplane. The other occupant of the machine, Mr Leonard Wesley Swan, secretary of the, Auckland Aero Club, was seriously injured. Mr Boucher was president of the Auckland Aero Club.

Communicating for publication the full text of the finding of the Board of Inquiry, the Minister of Defence, Hon J. G. Cobbe, said, that under section 39 of the Air Navigation Regulations a full investigation had been made into the crash which caused th© much regretted death of the pilot, Mr Boucher, who was not only an experienced airman, but one who had done much for the development of aviation in the. Dominion.

Tihe* finding of the board, which coil- ■ sisted of Sqiiadron-Loader T. M. Wilkes and.> Squadron-Leader ■ L. M. Isitt, was as follows“ The aircraft Zlv-AAL was in an ‘airworthy condition before, the flight, and carried the prescribed instruments. The, pilot Ernest Roberts Boucher /was a competent duly The/weafcher. conditions and report warranted the flight being cohunenced. Tho. Court is,of the opinion that .the,accident to ZK-AAL was due to an error of ; judgment on the part of the pilot, Ernest Roberts Boucher, in entering, a cloudbank voluntarily, which could have been .avoided. • >l The Court wishes to. draw attention to the . grave • danger of.;; cloud flying in ’ New Zealand, owing to the • topography of the- country and th« rapidly- changing meteorological conditions wliich may bo encountered on a comparatively’ short flight. The Court also ; considers,that .without blind flying. / instruments, weather reports available to pilots in the air, land a high standard of 'skxll in,instrument and navigation,, no ■ pilot ;.on. ...»..cross-country'! flight should fly .in clouds • or above clouds which totally obscure the ground.”

■ The crash occurred bn a Kill near the eastern slopes of Mount Hawkins, beyffild , the Happy Valley Road, not far from the entrance to Wellington Harbour, about 8.45 in' the' morning. There were low-lying clouds, and fog shrouding the hillside at the timo. Mr Boucher’s spine -was. fractured and his right shoulder dislocated. - He died early the next morning while 'being carried in a stretcher over extereinely rough country to an ambulance. , •• .

Mr Swan received injuries to; the neck, facial wounds and shock. He set out to walk for help and reached a cottage -at the Bed Rocks f°ur hotus after leaving the wrecked- machine. After telling the story of the crash he collapsed and was taken, to hospital. The machine, a. Government‘ Moth on. 1 loan to tho Auckland Aero Club, had left Rongotai. aerodrome at 8.30 <a.m. for Nelson. It was the intention of Messrs Foucher and Swan, in the course or a -business trip by air to attend the official South Island pagoant at Hokitika in the afternoon.