AIRMAN KILLED

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXX, Issue 21457, 3 April 1933, Page 8

AIRMAN KILLED

CRASH AT HAMILTON . * \ FATE OF FLYING PUPIL MACHINE FALLS 100 FEET ENGINE BURIED IN MUD [by telegraph—OWN correspondent] HAMILTON, Sunday A fatal flying accident resulting in the death of Raymond Eric Land, aged 19, occurred when a dual control Blackburn Bluebird biplane crashed near the Te Rapa aerodrome at 11 o'clock this morning. The machine, which fell from a height of about 100 feet, was wrecked and it came to rest with the tail upright. Mr. Land was a flying pupil of Cap. tain R. R. Money, a Hamilton aviator. The machine was owned by Mr. S. J. Blackmore, of Hamilton. Mr. Land had received instructions from Captain Money for some months and had done a fair amount of solo flying. Tho weather this morning was fine and there was practically no wind. Acting under instructions from Cap. tain Money, who was on the ground near tho hangar, Mr. Land had made two successful short flights alone. Ho took the machine up a third time and, when turning to glide to the aerodrome, the engine stalled. The machine was then flying at a height of about 100 feet over the farm of the Bryant House trustees, near Mr. J. Templar's house, 200 yards to the east of the hangar. Tree Breaks the Fall The aeroplane nose-dived and fell into a narrow gully about 15 feet deep. At the bottom is a swamp. The right wing of the machine struck a cabbage tree, which broke its fall, while the rushes in the swamp acted somewhat like a cushion. Several people saw the accident and Dr. G. W. Gower, who was visiting a patient near the aerodrome, was on the scene in a few minutes. The engine, and propeller of the aeroplane were completely embedded in the mud, and Mr. Land, who had his right leg twisted round the rudder stick, was extricated with difficulty. He was alive. The injured man was taken to the Waikato Hospital and underwent an operation, but he died at 5 p.m. Dr. M. M. Hockin, medical superintendent of the hospital, stated this evening that death was due mainly to shock. Mr. Land's thigh was fractured, his chest crushed and facial bones broken. Interest in Aviation Squadron-Leader L. M. Isitt, of Auckland, visited Hamilton in an Air Force aeroplane to-day and made an official inspection of the damaged machine. Mr. Land was the son of Mr. E. G. Land, of Hinemoa Street, Hamilton, and was employed as a machine room' assistant at the office of the Waikato Times. He was a pupil of the Hamilton Technical High School for four years, being a prefect and member of the school's first Rugby fifteen. Upon leaving school, where he was a successful engineering student, he became interested in aviation. He had completed 2£ hours of the five hours' solo flying required for qualification for an A flying licence. He intended to apply for a position in the Royal Air Force.