LOSS OF 12 LIVES

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19338, 31 May 1937, Page 5

LOSS OF 12 LIVES

BLACK FLYING DAY NINE AIR FORCE VICTIMS TRAGEDY MARS RACE PASSENGER PLANE'S FALL (Elec. Tel. Copyright—United Press Assn.) LONDON, May 29. There have now been 12 deaths in flying accidents in Britain in the last 24 hours.

It was one of the blackest days in British aviation. There were nine deaths in the Royal Air Force.

Tragedies marred the Royal Air Force displays held at various aerodromes in commemoration of Empire Day. The programmes were carried on in all cases, despite the fatalities. Squadron-Leader Power was killed instantly at Waddington when his plane nose-dived while looping the loop. PilotOfficer Elms, while participating in formation flying at Salisbury, nose-aived from 300 ft. * '.

Thousands of spectators, including many women and children, witnessed these crashes.

A third fatal crash occurred at Farnborough, where a plane being used in demonstrating an intentional spin to avoid anti-aircraft gunfire could not right itself. It fell several hundred feet, and the two occupants were burned to death. A fourth crash occurred when a pilot crashed in a field near Tangmere. The public was unaware of the mishap. Crash Into House A fifth happened when a Percival Gull plane participating in the Empire Day air race from London to the Isle of Man crashed into a house when taking off. The machine caught fire, killing the pilot. The passenger was injured. Four members of the Royal Air Force were killed on Friday while practising for the displays. A crash also occurred in the evening nt Doneaster, where a North-Eastern Airways' machine, while giving passenger flights, fell on the outskirts of the aerodrome. The pilot and five passengers were severely injured, two of whom later died. Eight thousand people witnessed the accident. Doom Not Realised

The accident at Farnborough was especially tragic. Anti-aircraft guns were firing dummy sliells, which were bursting in smoke round the plane, which, when it hurtled to the ground, with smoke issuing from its 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-Lieut. Tanfield, when liis plane was crashing at Tangmere, were. "Send fire engine." Flight-Lieut. Elms' plane turned turtle and struck the aerodrome upside down. The machine immediately caught fire, and although the pilot was thrown clear, he was dead.

The Percival Gull plane crashed at ITanworth at the start of the Isle of Man race when the tip of one wing struck a house. The plane burst into flames and also set on fire two houses.

' The Isle of Man race ended in a fog which obscured the finishing point, resulting in an alteration of arrangements against which a competitor protested. The committee is withholding prizes pending a settlement ol th* dispute.