AVIATION TRAGEDIES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19939, 7 May 1928, Page 9

AVIATION TRAGEDIES.

EIGHT KILLED IN JAPAN. PASSENGER PLANE CRASHES. FIRST BUILT IN COUNTRY. Australian and N.Z. Press Association. (Received May 6, 6.5 p.m.) TOKIO. May 5. The first passenger aeroplane built in Japan crashed on her trial trip. Eight occupants of the machine were killed. DOUBLE FATALITY. AIRMEN IN CANADA. BIPLANE FALLS INTO LAKE ERIE. Australian and N.Z. Press Association. (Received May 6, 5.5 p.m.) MONTREAL. May 5. A double aviation fatality is reported from Brantford, Ontario. Mr. John Rosencrans and Mr. James Latey, of Buffalo, United States, were instantly killed when a biplane in which they were flying plunged into Lake Erie. A terrific explosion reduced the plane to matchwood. AMERICAN'S DEATH. BIRD-LIKE AEROPLANE. CRASH AT CURTIS FIELD. Australian and N.Z. Press Association. NEW YORK, May 4. A tragic crash occurred to-day at the Curtis Field aerodrome. Leonard Bonney, who had spent six months in studying the common seagull and had afterwards built an aeroplane as nearly as possible like that bird, gave his life for his ideal. The machine differed in almost everyway from the accepted aeroplane theory. It was bird-like in appearance, with pinions instead of wings. It was openly predicted that the plane would never fly, but Bonney tried to make it do so. The airman raised the machine from the ground and flew at a terrific speed for half a mile. Then, as Bonney waved one hand derisively at the onlookers below, the odd-looking craft nose-dived straight down to the ground. It was completely smashed and the airman was killed. DEATHS IN NAVAL BRANCH. TWENTY-SEVEN IN NINE MONTHS. Australian and N.Z. Press Association. (Received May 6, 5.5 p.m.) WASHINGTON. May 5. The Secretary of the Navy, Mr. C. D. Wilbur, has appointed a special investigating board in a.n effort to reduce accidents in the naval branch of the air service. Of these, there have been"lß2 in the past nine months, at a cost of 27 lives.