FLYING DISASTERS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23204, 31 May 1937, Page 10

FLYING DISASTERS

COLLISION AT ALTON SERVICE PLANES WRECKED TWO AIR CRAFTSMEN KILLED (United Press Association) (By Electric Telegraph—Copyright) LONDON, May 28. Two service aeroplanes were wrecked in a collision in mid-air at Alton The pilots escaped by means of parachutes. Two aircraftsmen were killed. KILLED WHILE STUNTING TWO AIR FORCE OFFICERS LONDON, May 28. Two members of the Royal Air Force were killed when stunting. The machine went into a spin, crashed in Martlesham, Suffolk, and was destroyed by fire. The bodies were charred. Royal Air Force fatal accidents in 1937 total 31, in which 45 were killed and six injured. EMPIRE DAY DISPLAYS TERRIBLE LIST OF TRAGEDIES LONDON, May 29. (Received May 30, at 10 p.m.) Tragedies marred the Air Force displays held at various aerodromes in commemoration of Empire Day. Squadron-leader Power was killed instantly at Waddington when his plane nose-dived during a loop. Pilot-officer Elms, participating in formation flying at Salisbury, nosedived from 300 feet. Thousands, including many women and children, witnessed these crashes. A third fatal crash occurred at Farnborough, where a plane was demonstrating an intentional spin to avoid anti-aircraft gunfire. It could not right itself and fe"ll several hundred feet. The two occupants were burned to death. A fourth crash occurred when a pilot crashed in a field near Tangmere. The public was not aware of the mishap. A fifth fatality occurred when a Percival Gull plane, which was participating in the Empire Air Day Race from London to Isle of Man, crashed into a house when taking off, and caught fire, killing the pilot. The passenger was injured. There have now been 10 deaths in Britain in the last 24 hours. The programmes were carried on in all cases, despite the fatalities. BLACK DAY FOR AVIATION LONDON, May 30. (Received May 30, at 10 p.m.) It was one of the blackest days in British aviation. There were nine deaths in the Air Force. Four were killed on May 28, when practising for displays. The Farnborough accident was especially tragic anti-air-craft guns were firing dummy shells and bursting smoke ro.und the plane, which, when it hurtled to the ground with smoke issuing from the exhaust, was believed by spectators to be part of the performance. They did not realise the plane was doomed. The last words spoken into the radiophone by Flight-lieutenant Tanfield when his plane was crashing at Tangmere, were: " Send fire engine." Pilot-officer Elms's plane turned turtle and struck the aerodrome upside down, and immediately caught fire. Elms was thrown clear, but was dead. A Percival Gull crashed at Hanworth at the start of the Isle of Man Race. A wing tip struck a house and the plane burst into flames. It also set fire to two houses. The Isle of Man Race ended in fog, which obscured the finishing point, resulting in an alteration of the arrangements, against which a competitor protested. The committee is withholding the prizes pending a settlement.

A crash also occurred in the evening at Doncaster, where the Northeastern Airways machine giving passenger flights fell on the outskirts of the aerodrome. The pilot and five passengers were severely injured, and two later died. Eight thousand people witnessed the accident.