TAWA FLAT TRAGEDY
CRASH DURING CO(i. CUIiOXIAI; RINDING. ■ tlVr Press .Assovia lion.—Copyriahl .) WELLINGTON This Pay, An inquest on Hie two airmen, Francis Dresser and George Bourne Steven King, who lost their lives when their aeroplane was wrecked in the hills north of Tawa Flat on Tuesday afternoon, was held today. After hearing the evidence of Squad-ron-Leader Steelman, Constable Tocker. of Johnsonville, Captain Bolt and A. W r . Nisbet, the coroner, Mr Gilbertson, returned a verdict that the men sustained fatal injuries when their aeroplane crashed into a hill which was obscured on account of foggy atmospheric conditions.
It was one of those unfortunate accidents that happen in flying, the coroner said. The pilot in this case had apparently taken a chance. He should have followed the instructions given him regarding the route, but had not done so, and had flown into a hill at a terrific rate, and both men had been killed instant an eouslv.
In the course of his evidence, Squad-ron-Leader Stedman said he considered Grosser a safe enough pilot in good weather, but ho would be rather unreliable in an extreme emergency. weather conditions were all right from Packakariki north, but between there and Wellington clouds were low, particularly where they were right on top of the hill. Three other machines had got through from New Plymouth, but crossed the range of hills farther north and flown down the Hutt Valley. There was no occasion for Grosser to go into the clouds.
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Northern Advocate, 28 October 1932, Page 6
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245TAWA FLAT TRAGEDY Northern Advocate, 28 October 1932, Page 6
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