AIRCRAFT SINKS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23401, 18 July 1939, Page 11

AIRCRAFT SINKS

CRUISER'S AMPHIBIAN CAPSIZE AT SHIP'S SIDE CREW'S FORTUNATE ESCAPE SHARK-INFESTED WATERS Following a successful flight over Aittitaki, Cook Islands, on Saturday, illTe Swpermarine Walrus amphibian flying-boat of H.M.S. Achilles capsized at her side and sank immediately in 300 fathoms, states a wireless message received by the Press Association from the ship. The pilot, Lieutenant A. E. W. Sykcs, and Leading Telegraphist Trent both escaped from the sinking machine in shark-infested waters. The Walrus amphibian machine is the one which replaced a similar machine which was lost in the Red Sea during the Achilles' trip to New Zealand last April. Lengthy flights had already been made by the flying-boat at Rarotonga, Maukc and Atiu, where the natives were owed by the sight of th 6 first "iron bird" seen over those islands. No previous trouble had been experienced. Their Excellencies. Lord and Lady Galway, in the course of their islands tour, together with. Captain W. J-:. Pa rry and 12 officers of the Achilles, were at the time of the mishap lunching at Aitutaki Residency, and a message was heliographed to the shore reporting that the machine had sunk, nnd that the crew was safe. Heroic efforts made by Lieutenant Sykes and Leading Telegraphist Trent and sailors to secure the wires of the sinking aeroplane were unsuccessful. The accident occurred while the flying-boat was being hoisted aboard the Achilles on completion of the flight. It was' impossible for a diver to operate owing to the tremendous depth of water where the machine sank. Captain Parry informed the Press Association representative that an inquiry would be held to investigate the cause of the accident.