PLANE TRAGEDY

Southland Times, Issue 22485, 21 January 1935, Page 7

PLANE TRAGEDY

PLUNGE INTO SEA PASSENGER SWIMS ASHORE PILOT DROWNED (Per United Press Association.) Christchurch, January 20. An aeroplane which was returning from Wellington to Christchurch yesterday afternoon came down in the sea near Waipara. The pilot, Noel Roake, was drowned and Cecil Haigh, a passenger, swam ashore unhurt. Both men were employees of Christchurch Cinemas Ltd. Roake was manager of the Regent Theatre and Haigh of the Majestic Theatre. Roake leaves a widow and one child.

The weather was very thick and foggy and visibility bad. Roake was flying close to the ground in an endeavour to keep the coastline in view. When the aeroplane was about seven miles north of the Waipara River the pilot suddenly caught sight of a cliff immediately in front. He swerved violently to the left and the wing touched the water. The machine overturned and plunged nose first into the sea.

Roake and Haigh were both strapped in their seats and both were under the surface of the water. They managed to struggle out of the cockpits and fight their way to the surface. Both floundered in the water, severely handicapped by their heavy and baggy flying costumes, but each man found temporary relief in the detached wheels of their machine. Haigh continued to float with the aid of his wheel but Roake decided to make for the shore. He swam about 100 yards, visibly exhausted, and reached a rock to which he clung until dashed off by the sea. He must have then struck his head on the rock for he disappeared. Haigh reached him in the end and succeeded in dragging him to the beach but it was too late to save his life. Haigh set off for assistance and walked for five hours over extremely rough and barren country before he reached the house of William Macintosh, eight miles from the Waipara township. Haigh insisted on returning with a search party as soon as he arrived but the searchers could find no trace of Roake until this morning. The body was brought in by packhorse in the middle of the afternoon.

The aeroplane, a Gipsy Moth, owned by the Canterbury Aero Club, is completely wrecked and its position is so remote and inaccessible that no salvage will be possible. The tail projects a few feet above the water at low tide.