'Plane Wrecked in Crash

Manawatu Times, Volume 61, Issue 136, 11 June 1936, Page 8

'Plane Wrecked in Crash

OCCUPANTS ESCAPE INJURY. BLENHEIM, June 10. The Dominion’s iirst aero club machine, the Moth ZK-AAA, belonging to the Marlborough Aero Club, was wrecked this morning as the result of a forced landing in the front of a garden house, near the municipal aerodrome. 'Jno accident occurred during the course of a training flight. The pilotinstructor, Squadron-Leader N. E. Chandler, accompanied by a pupil pilot, Mr. A. Griffon, of Nelson, both escaped injury. Shortly after taking off SquadronLeader Chandler discovered that the ladder control was inoperative and elected to effect a quick landing in a nearby paddock, but struck a wire fence. • The plane crashed in an inverted position a few feet from a cottage and the occupants struggled from the wreckage without even a scratch. The plane broke at the cockpits, while the wings spread-eagled out. Eventful Career. The damaged machine has an interesting history, as it was a gift from Baron Wakefield to New Zealand in 1929. It was allotted by the Government to the Marlborough Club. Subsequently Squadron-Leader Chandler effected a forced landing in it in the sea at Ship’s Cove, Queen Charlotte Sound. The machine has been rebuilt several times after smashes and little of the original aeroplane remains except the identification letters, which •were the first issued under the present system.