PILOT’S STORY

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXVI, 14 January 1936, Page 5

PILOT’S STORY

AIR LINER’S CRASH CITY OF KHARTOUM INQUEST ON VICTIMS (United Press Association—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright) (Received 14th January, 10.10 a.m.) ALEXANDRIA, 13th January. The inquest into the City of Kliarj touin victims opened, i Pilot Wilson, the sole survivor, giving evidence stated that within, a minute of sending the last wireless message, which was a signal for winding in the aerial, all the engines failed simultaneously, the altimeter registering 600 feet. Visibility was good. He put the machine into the correct diving angle, hut since the airscrews had stopped he lost a hundred ' feet before attaining the correct angle. Tlie glide was normal except a little steeper than if the engines were running. The machine struck the water in fifteen seconds, shattering any hope of making a safe landing. “Before hitting the water I was only slightly anxious owing to the fact that I had not the normal aids for landing like flares or buoys. I flattened out the plane at the moment of contact with the sea. -It was impossible to see the water under these circumstances since the nose light was' only for picking out obstacles ahead. I had never before landed with only nose lights. One of the petrol gauges showed twenty-five gallons, the other nil. There was enough petrol for twenty minutes’ flying.” Wilson expressed the opinion that it was po*sible that a breakage in the petrol feed or an obstruction caused the disaster. He added that he climbed on the sinking plane and remained until it sank. He spoke to a passenger, Luke, after the crash, also Amor who was a strong swimmer. He was himself nearly run down by the Brilliant which eventually picked him up. ’ 11 Tiie court listened tensely while a doctor described the causes of death of' the victims. The Coroner asked the. court to stand in silence. It will be at least three or four weeks before the technical investigation . is concluded DRAMATIC FINAL SCENE Wilson gave a dramatic account of the final scene. ‘I made good normal contact with the water, hut almost immedi-' ately afterwards the nose of the ’plane was buried in solid water as though she had run into a large swell.. I found my-' self in the water one second after the ’plane made contact with the sea. I un- , did the safety valves and extricated myself from the cockpit, which was open. Then, getting to the surface, I saw the ’plane standing on her nose practically vertically. It- took fifteen to twenty minutes for me to strip off my clothes. Only the starboard wingtip and the tail." structure were visible, silhouetted against, tli© sky. I drifted, holding the cockpit cushion which was soon sodden. I then swam to tlie ’plane and climbed on the: tail, where I found a passenger who asked what were the chances of being picked up. I reassured him and saw another passenger swimming and trying to climb on the tail of the ’plane.' The ' swell was nine feet from crest to trough, . which is considerable as far as lauding a"', flying boat is concerned. Both passengers swam off into the darkness. By this time forty-five minutes had elapsed. 1 remained oil the tail of the ’plane and"" t lion the rudder until it was submerged. . I then swam to the starboard w'dig-tip, ’ where I remained until 9.30 p.m.,'when the ’plane sank. My luminous watchbad not stopped. I was' on the wingtip for an hour.” Wilson described how he swam until' picked up at 5 a.m. • SEVEN KILLED INSTANTLY (Received 14th January. 12.30 p.ni.) J ALEXANDRIA, i3th January. ■ • • The. medical evidence disclosed that - Gatrett and two of the crew died from drowning. Seven others fractured their skulls and were killed instantly.