FLIER KILLED

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22427, 25 May 1936, Page 10

FLIER KILLED

MR. O'HARA'S FATE CRASH IN AUSTRALIA NOSE-DIVE TO GROUND MACHINE IN FLAMES (Received May 24, 6.35 p.m.)) SYDNEY. May 24 News was received at Sydney this afternoon of the tragic death of the well-known airman Mr. W. M. O'Hara, Tasman Flier, who crashed shortly after taking off at Eumungerie, 315 miles west of Sydney. The aeroplane caught fire and Mr. O'Hara was almost incinerated.

Since the flier left Sydney on the first stage of a leisurely flight to Java, he had been staying on a sheep station, the property of Mr. Justice Boyce's son, Mr. R. E. Boyce, 40 miles from Dubbo.

His Klemm aeroplane was parked a mile away in a paddock. Mr. O'Hara motored to the paddock this morning with a party of friends, including the wife of Mr. Justice Boyce. The airman took off for Dubbo where he had intended to pick up a hat and to continue to Cootamundra, where he had proposed to have luncheon with a fellow airman, Mr. Butler. The machine rose to a height of 200 ft. and circled. Mr. O'Hara waved a farewell and then banked sharply. The machine immediately nose-dived to the earth and burst into flames. The airman was thrown four feet from the aeroplane, but not out of reach of the flames, and he was soon a human torch. His friends could not approach him owing to the heat, but finally they dragged him away with a branch of a tree.

An examination of the body revealed that many of Mr. O'Hara's bones were broken, and that he had suffered injuries to the head which, themselves, it is thought, proved fatal. The body will be brought to Sydney to await the relatives' instructions in regard to the burial.

Details of the life of the dead airman and photographs appear on page 13.