TRAGEDY NEAR MANGERE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23034, 11 May 1938, Page 16

TRAGEDY NEAR MANGERE

PILOTS PERISH IN WRECK NO PASSENGERS ON BOARD * " BOUND FOR WELLINGTON Disaster overtook the Union Airways liner Kotare immediately after taking off from Mangere aerodrome for Palmerston North and Wellington at 12.15 yesterday afternoon. The machine struck a tree about half a mile north of the aerodrome, crashed and was destroyed by fire, the pilot and the co-pilot being killed. There were no passengers. The victims of the accident are: — Commander Cyril Mercer Duthie,~aged 30, married, of 43 ,Vale Road, St. Heliers Bay, Auckland, chief pilot. Second-Officer William John Peel, aged 24, single, son of Mr. and Mrs. W. Peel, of Napier, co-pilot. Nothing could be done to help the fliers, who are believed to have been killed by the crash. So intense was the heat of the burning machine, that officials had to wait until the flames subsided before any effort could be made to remove the bodies. Preparations are in hand for an official inquiry into the tragedy. The Kotare was one of three Lockheed Electra monoplanes used by the company on the Auckland-Wellington service. This is the first accident to any of these machines.