Plane Damaged In Forced Landing

Northern Advocate, 25 May 1938, Page 6

Plane Damaged In Forced Landing

[Per Press Association. Copyright.}

HASTINGS, This Day

The last aeroplane owned by the Hawke’s Bay and East Coast Aero Club was put out of commission when

making a forced landing at the Napier aerodrome at 4.10 p.rn. yesterday, after the engine failed when the

aeroplane was at a height of 200 feet. Neither the pilot, Mr. P. Barron, nor the passenger. Mr. P. Jessop. was injured, although the machine was extensively damaged.

The aeroplane, which had arrived from Hastings earlier in the afternoon. took off on the return journey, using the south-west runway, and was making a left-hand circuit at, a height of 200 feet.

Mr, Barron made a cross-wind landing, but as the wheels touched the ground vhc machine swung round on the left wheel, coming to rest facing the opposite direction to that in which it had come in.

The two lower wings and upper starboard wings were twisted out of shape, the longerons running the length of the aeroplane were broken in front of the front cockpit, and the propeller tip was smashed off. One of the undercarriage struts came through the floor of the front cockpit, and the passenger had a fortunate escape from injury, Mr. Barron, who has approximately 100 hours’ flying to his credit, is a capable pilot, and those who saw the accident said that he was making a normal crosswind landing at the time the undercarriage collapsed.