TRAGIC CRASH

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22349, 21 February 1936, Page 8

TRAGIC CRASH

MID-AIR COLLISION SIX ARMY FLIERS KILLED JWO MACHINES IN FLAMES [fkom our own correspondent] HONOLULU, Feb. 5 The cause of the most serious aviation accident in the history of Hawaii, that on the night of January 24 in ■which six military airmen were killed, remains a mystery as far as the Kenera 1 public is concerned. Two official boards investigated the crash thoroughly, but nothing has been disclosed. The accident occurred as a squadron of twin-engined bombers was coming in from a night mission to land at Luke Field. Two of the rear machines collided and in a matter of seconds were blazing ruins' on the field. The victims were: —Lieutenant William G. Beard, Staff-Sergeant Bernard F. Jablonsky, Private Gordon M. Parkhurst, Private Bruce E. Taylor, Private John D. Hartman, and Private • Truman J. Gardner. Two men were saved by their parachutes. They were Lieutenant Charles F. Fisher and Private Thomas 13. Lanigan. Miraculous Escapes Theories so far advanced indicate that Lieutenant ' Beard's machine swerved from its place in a sudden gust of wind and smashed into Lieutenant ' Fisher's aeroplane, breaking its wing petrol tanks and setting alight the 6purt of fumes from engine exhausts. The escapes of the two survivors were miraculous. ' Lieutenant Fisher's parachute was tardy in opening after he had dived out into the night past the whirling blades of the starboard engine's propeller, from an altitude of 600 feet. Almost at the instant of opening the parachute caught on a steel ladder attached to a tall petrol storage tank, throwing the airman against the tank side and leaving him suspended with his feet three feet off the ground. His only injury was a bruised leg. Private Lanigan, floating down, found himself settling directly on top of one of the blazing wrecks, but 60 feet from the ground a gust of heat wafted him aside and he came to earth 100 feet away from the fire. Polynesian Superstition Funeral services for the victims were held at Honolulu yesterday and the ashes sent to the American continent aboard the transport Republic. Sailing on the same steamer was Mrs. Beard and her 10 months' old daughter. Major-General Hugh A. Drum, commanding the Hawaiian department, gave to the widow the use of the special stateroom always reserved for him aboard the vessel. Polynesian superstition plays a small 'part in the tragic story. A few weeks before the accident bombing aeroplanes of the type that crashed had attacked a lava flow from Mauna Loa, stopping it when it threatened the city of Hilo. Hawaiians commented after the crash that Pele, the native goddess of fire, was taking ,revenge against those who had interfered with her work.