AMERICAN ACCIDENT.
A MIRACULOUS ESCAPE.
DAMAGED PLANE LANDED.
(Received July 26, 5.5 p.m.)
A. and N.Z. WASHINGTON. July 25. A remarkable escape from death was experienced to-day by an American airman, Lieutenant Champion, He had ascended to a height of 48,000 ft. in a Wright Apache biplane and had established an unofficial altitude record. Lieutenant Champion then descended to 36,000 ft. Suddenly seven of the nine cylinders in the engine of the plane blew out their heads. The explosions ripped holes in the wings of the machine and knocked an oxygen tube from Lieutenant Champion's mouth. The piston rods flew backward, shattering'the wings of the plane and endangering the life of the pilot. Lieutenant Champion was powerless to do anything but volplane. He landed safely in a two-acre patch. Experts declare that the safe descent was miraculous. The plane was completely covered with ice.
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Bibliographic details
New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19699, 27 July 1927, Page 11
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144AMERICAN ACCIDENT. New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19699, 27 July 1927, Page 11
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