AVIATOR KILLED

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22173, 29 July 1935, Page 12

AVIATOR KILLED

COLLISION IN MID-AIR PILOT MEETS HIS DEATH OTHER FLIER LANDS SAFELY Two aeroplanes collided in mid-air in the course of a race at the Essendon aerodrome,. Melbourne on July 20. Momentarily, the machines hung together. Then one dived to the ground, crashing into the muddy surface of a paddock and killing the pilot, William Henry Zacher, aged 32. . With his machine ailmost uncontrollable, the other pilot involved in the accident —Theodore H. S. Allen, of South Yarra —throttled his engine back, slid down to the ground side first, and, thudding heavily into the mud, made a safe landing a few hundred yards from where Mr. Zacher's machine had crashed. The pilots, who were close friends, were competing in the third heat of a "throttle stop" race, which was being held by the Royal Victorian Aero Club on a triangular course of about 30 miles. Both pilots had completed the first circuit, and they were flying wing to wing at the second last turn. Approaching the last turn Mr. Allen had gained a slight lead, but Mr. Zacher was flying closer to the turning point. Had Mr. Zacher kept his machine at the same height as that of his rival he would probably have "cut" the turn and incurred disqualification. Apparently, he decided to be sure of making the turn correctly by diving under the other machine. Mr. Allen stated that he saw Mr. Zacher approaching and he refrained from, diving, but, after having passed beneath his machine, Mr. Zacher found himself too close to the ground, and he rose into the path of the other aeroplane. In doing so, he lost forward speed, and the two machines collided. The. propeller of Mr. Allen's machine cut through the fuselage about a foot from the tail plane of the other machine, and the whole tail plane became entangled in the undercarriage and one wing. For a second the two aeroplanes hung together. Then Mr. Zacher's machine dived about 400 ft. to tho ground and. crashed into the paddock. The engine was embedded in the mud. Most of the fuselage was shattered into matchwood and twisted canvas. The side of the cockpit was crushed, and the wings were torn off. Mr. Zacher, who was shockingly injured, was pinned in the cockpit. With about a foot of the propeller broken off and the broken tail plane of the other machine preventing the wind from reaching the rudder and rear elevators, Mr. Allen was in a perilous position, but he made a remarkable forced, landing. Both pilots had had a long experience of flying.