TRIPLE TRAGEDY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21247, 29 July 1932, Page 9

TRIPLE TRAGEDY

CRASH IN SURREY MACHINE LOSES WINGS SON AND MOTHER KILLED GUEST ALSO A VICTIM YOUNG PILOT'S AMBITION By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright (Received Jul? 28, 5.15 p.m.) LONDON, July 28 A shocking triplo flying tragedy occurred yesterday near Churt, about five miles south-east of Farnham, Surrey. Mr. Bruce Bossom, tho 21-year-old son of Mr. Alfred Bossom, Conservative member of tho House of Commons for Maidstone, who recently decided that he could not sacrifice his aviation record-breaking plans for marriage to a Knightsbridge girl, tragically ended his career. Tho young man was piloting an aeroplane which crashed, and he and his passengers, his mother and Prince Otto Erbach Fuerstenau, were all killed. Mr. Bossom wa,s taking Prince Otto, who was his parents' guest, on a pleasure flight from Heston to Southampton, when they encountered bad weather. An eye" witness saw the aeroplane emerge suddenly from the clouds and there was then a terrific explosion. The machine was badly twisted. The crash occurred not far from the houses of Mr. Lloyd George and Viscount Snowden. The bodies of the victims were widely separated when they were found, and all were several hundred feet from the wreckage. They were only identifiable by articles in their pockets. Only a few soldiers and pedestrians witnessed the accident. A military officer saw the aeroplane emerge from the clouds wingless, "like a flying bedstead." He was horrified to see the fuselage break up and the bodies fall, followed by the petrol tank. The Nows-Chronicle calls attention to tho extraordinary similarity of this crash to the Mcopham disaster on July 21, 1931, when, after an explosion, fragments of tho wrecked machine fell from a thick cloud. Mrs. Bossom often went on flights with her Son. Prince Otto, who was 23 years old, was making his first visit to England. It is believed tho crash was duo to lightning striking the aeroplane. It was Mr. Bossom's ambition to break the record for the flights to South Africa and Australia, and to cross tho Atlantic. He narrowly escaped death in May, 1931, when ho crashed in Cheshire and his machine caught fire.

Mr. Alfred C. Bossom, whose wife and son have been killed, is a British architect who has made a reputation in America as a designer of skyscrapers and other large buildings. Ho has taken an active part in a movement for the preservation of Anglo-American friendship. A recent cablegram from London stated: Mr. Bruce Bossom has been told that he must choose between breaking records and breaking a girl's heart. He wants to make record flights to Australia and America; he wants, also, to marry Miss Odette Herard, daughter of a Knightsbridge dressmaker. His mother says she docs not object to the girl, but Bruce, who is a promising pilot, cannot ruin his 9areer by marriage, as the former is the more important.. He must concentrate on his career; afterwards he can marry whatever girl he likes. His father says: "People say that flying is dangerous. If Bruce is going to smash records he must be absolutely free."