JERSEY AIR CRASH

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23213, 6 December 1938, Page 8

JERSEY AIR CRASH

'U PEOPLE EII/LED CAUSE A MYSTERY TERRIFIC EXPLOSION OCCURS MANY PATHETIC INCIDENTS [from our own correspondent] LONDON, Nov. 10 Fourteen lives were lost when a Jersey Airways air liner crashed one minute after taking off from the Jersey airport for Southampton. It bounced along a tomato field for a few yards, killed a labourer and burst into flames. Nobody escaped. Among those killed was a 13 months' old baby girl. There \j r as a terriblo''explosion arid idebris was hurled over an area an acre in extent. So far the cause of the crash is not known, but there is a theory that it was associated with the aeroplane's blind-flying instruments. The four engines were 50 yards apart. Struts and instruments, broken seats and wires were interlaced with women's jumpers and underclothes, men's suits and pieces of Buitcases blown open in the explosion. Lying on the banked hedge of the lane which divides the turnip and tomato fields were torn fashion books, a child's rattle, a doll, a woolly ball, a shoe and a sock. On another hedge was a box of ruined cigars. The air liner's Wheels were 200 yards from the rest of the debris. Fate ef a Field Worker The farm labourer killed, Le Cornu, and another man, Mr. Peter Lesau, were at work in the field when the machine., crashed. Both threw themBelves to the ground, but Le Cornu was too late. He was carried 40 yards and hurled into a turnip field with the bodies of four other adults and the baby. His coat was torn from him and fell-10 yards further on. Two people had arrived at the airport too late to claim seats they had booked. One of them, Mr. Louis Morris, a cinema proprietor, was an eye-witness of the crash. "I saw the air liner take off normally and circle round. Then it was lost in the mist," said Mr. Morris. "Suddenly it came out of the mist, apparently attempting to land. It was very low and I realised that it must crash. It struck the ground, bounced, struck again and burst into flames. My chauffeur and I ran over, but we could do nothing. Nor could the firemen and ambulance men, who arrived at the same time. I heard the petrol tanks explode and saw bodies hurled out of the flames." Among those killed were Captain and Mrs. W. D. Swan, with their child. They were on their way to India. At the subsequent inquest Mrs. Swan's father. Major Beazley, was called to identify his daughter and the baby. Eye-witnesses 1 Graphic Stories Pierre Le Saux made a statement In which he said: "I was with my foreman, Le Cornu (one of those silled) mowing the afield. During the morning I happened to look up and I saw the aeroplane coming toward me. It was flying so low that I threw myself to the ground, but the aeroplane struck Le Cornu on the forehead. I looked up again and saw the machine strike the edge of the field. I looked for Le Cornu, but he was missing. I could not get very close to the aeroplane. It ,was a mass of flames." Another witness, Mr. Hulin, was [working on his farm close by when the crash occurred. "The first body I found was drenched in petrol," he said, "and was aflame from head to foot. The boy and'l tried to smother the* flames with our caps'. "The little baby," continued witness with difficulty, "was the most pathetic of all." - The inquest was adjourned. A half-burned novel was picked up from the wreckage. It opened at a chapter headed: ''Travelling Toward Freedom."