EGMONT DISASTER

Hokitika Guardian, 15 September 1934, Page 5

EGMONT DISASTER

THE BODIES FOUND

PLANE WRECKAGE SCATTERED.

(Tor Press Association — Copyright .)

NEW PLYMOUTH, September 14. Mangled by the terrific force of the crash, the wreckage of the “ZK-ABS” plane, missing from New Plymouth airport since 2 o’clock on Thursday afternoon, was found by a party of searchers at 10.30 o’clock this morning. Under the wreckage of portion of the fuselage were the bodies of the occupants, James Austin, photographer, and S. J. Green, pilot, bdtli wellknown New Plymouth men. So completely wrecked was the plane that it is doubtful if an aerial search would eve]' have located it. Fragments of the framework of the fuselage,, fabric, petrol tank, and engine were scattered over a radius of 50 yards. Portion of one wing was attached to a tall sapling 70 yards from where tne engine lay. A few feet from the bodies of the fivers tattered strips of wing and body hung from a huge rata against which the machine had dashed itself to pieces. ....

The casjng of the'engine was shattered by the force of' the impact, and it lay 40 feet from the large tree/ which had had its, limbs lopped from the terrific effect of the crash. It seemed probable that- the plane had dived at a high speed, and that the'pilot had been unable to pull the nose up in time to clear the treetops. The bodies of Austin and Green were recognisable only by their clothing, and it is apparent that they met their deaths instantly. They lay under a shattered , portion off the over-turned fuselage beneath the front and rear cockpits. Pending investigation by experts, no theory can be advanced as to the caus e of the accident. The locality in which the plane came to earth is heavily timbered,’ and is accessible only under expert guidance. It is brokeii'by steep gorges, and tangled with supplejack. The wreckage lies 200 yards above! a small tributory af the Kuaauai River on its western side at a point about three miles from the radius line. | The distance from the crest of the range at that point is roughly 1030 feet, and the accident occurred at an altitude of three thousand feet. So exact had been the information supplied by the trappers, who had heard the crash on (the previous afternoon, Mr Tfc. Burrows and his son, that three independent parties of searchers were converging to that one point when the discovery was made. Under exceedingly difficult conditions the bodies were . carried,, out of the bush before' dusk to-night. The distance from the, scene of . the crash to the nearest road is about nine miles, and the wild nature of the country made the task an exceedingly arduous one. Cold showers, following on a brilliant morning, added to th e unpleasantness of the work. Overnight large parties had been! carefully organised to begin the search by air and on foot. With, the break of day, cold mist soon began to creep down the mountainside, but the aeroplanes succeeded in locating portion of the plane in the trees and in assisting the ground parfies.