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Otago Daily Times, Issue 22398, 20 October 1934, Page 16

An extraordinary episode of the air, in which a Royal Air Force pilot fought for his life against a civilian passenger distraught by nervous seizure, was revealed at Edinburgh recently. The civilian, attempting to seize and jam the controls of the aeroplane when flying over the Grampian mountains, was overpowered after a desperate struggle. Two civilians, one a civil engineer on Royal Air Force inspection duty, were being flown from Novar to Leuchars, The engineer suddenly found his companion in a nerve storm attempting to attack the pilot and seize control. The civilian was fought and overpowered. The engineer held down the civilian while the pilot made a desperate 100 mile race for safety. Mr Jim Mollison had a similar experience in the course of his Empire Day air survey flight over Great Britain. High over the Border hills, during the flight from Newcastle to Glasgow, a passenger in his machine had a nervous seizure. He felt he wanted *o kill Mr Mollison with the starting handle, seize the controls and crash the aeroplane to earth. Mr Mollison raced to Glasgow and landed the passenger for medical treatment. . Insurance against the imposition or "lines,” at the rate of Id a week, in return for which insurers being given lines to write received compensation at the fate of 3d per 100, was recently started by two boys at the Grammar School, at Goole, Yorkshire. The scheme was withdrawn.