CRASH ON HILLS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24685, 14 August 1941, Page 8

CRASH ON HILLS

PLANE ON NIGHT FLIGHT PILOT’S REMARKABLE ESCAPE WRECKAGE BURSTS INTO FLAMES

OP.A.) CHRISTCHURCH. Aug. 13. A remarkable escape was made by the pilot of an Airspeed Oxford aircraft from the Wigram Air Station after it-crashed and burst into flames in the Bowenvale Valley, Cashmere, about 10 o’clock last night. Pieces of the machine, which was on nightflying practice, were scattered over about 200 yards of hillside about half a mile from Sanatorium, road, above the end of Bowenvale avenue. Under low cloud and rain, the aircraftrwas seen just before the crash by residents nearby. It was flying the valley. A few seconds after the crash the whole valley, was ■ lit up by the flames, which were still ■burning nearly two hours afterwards. TWo fire engines apd an ambulance wete: sent, and the fire and ambu : lance parties scrambled over (he steep, and slippery, slopes towards the 'glow of >the flrev, :. . ■■ >;'! • ' ’ • ■. , ■ In the' meantime, the ipilot, havingwalked'away with, nothing worse than ,9 ’.'slight; cut'.:bn the - ;-head, had been ; met by niembers of -the,'Christchurch iFire Brigade.: ' - ' - ' Mr G. Knowles, of Bowenvale;- who Was first on ■ the,. scene, about 15 minutes after the crash, said he met k a min coming away from the burningvaircrift;'' “He asked me: ‘How doTjgeVout of hete?’” said Mr Knowles. - .‘hi' asked t him. Who he 'was. and’ he seld'ihe was the pilot.'; I told him lie was the.’luckiest man I had met.” h -describing the crash, Mr Knowles ; said:-that he was .at his glasshouses iri iKe' Valley; when he saw an aeroplane flying directly up the valley* its'-navigation lights were burning. Mr Knowles added that from the scattering of the wreckage it appeared that the machine had flown some way up the ” yalley, and then turned,,. as the trail of the wreckage pointed back towards the city.