EGMONT ’PLANE CRASH

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18503, 15 September 1934, Page 8

EGMONT ’PLANE CRASH

FINDING OF WRECKAGE FLYERS KILLED INSTANTLY BODIES RECOVERED (Per Press Association.) \r\V PLYMOUTH. last night. Mangled by the terrific force of tho crash, the wreckage of the ZK-ABS plane which was missing from New Plymouth airport since 2 o’clock on Thursday afternoon, was found hy a party of searchers at 10.30 o'clock this morning. Under the wreckage of portion o! the fuselage were the bodies of the occupants, Mr. dames Austin, photographer, and Mr. F. d. fireon. pilot, both wellknown New Plymouth men.

The plane was completely wrecked. Fragments of the framework, fuselage, petrol tank and engine were scattered over it radius of 50vds. Portion of one wing was attached to a tall sapling 70yds. from where the engine lay, a few feet from the bodies of the flyers. Tattered strips of wing and the body fabric hung from the huge rata against which t iie machine had dashed it sol j to pieces. The casing of the engine was shattered by the force of the impact, and lay 40ft. from a large (roe. which had had its limbs lopped. NO THEORY AS TO CAUSE From the terrifu effect of the crash it seemed probable that the plane had dived at high speed, and that the, pilot had been unable to pull the nose up in time to clear the tree-tops. The bodies of Messrs. Austin and Green were recognisable only by their clothing, and it is apparent that they met their death instantly. They lay under the shattered portion of the overturned fuselage, beneath the front and rear 'cockpits. Pending an investigation by experts no theory can he advanced as to the cause of the accident.

The locality in which the plane came to earth is heavily timbered, and accessible only under expert guidance. It is broken hy steep gorges and tangled with supplejack. The wreckage lies 2Covds above a small tributary of the Kaukatmai River, on its western side. The distance Irom the crest of the range at that point is roughly 1000 ft., and the accident occurred at an altitude of SCCOft. DIFFICULT WORK FOR SEARCHERS

So exact had been the information supplied bv the trappers who had heard the crash eti the previous afternoon, Mr. R. Burrows and his son, that three independent parties of searchers were converging to the one point when, the discovery was made Under exceedingly difficult conditions the bodies were carried out of the hush before dusk to-night. The distance from the scene of the crash to the nearest road is about nine miles, and the wild nature of the country made the task an exceedingly arduous one. Cold showers following a brilliant morning added to the unpleasantness of the work. Overnight Urge parties had been carefully organised to begin the search bv air and on foot with khe break of day. A cold mist soon began to creep down the mountainside, hut aeroplanes succeeded in locating portion of the

’nne in thy trees, and assisted the ground parties.