UNIQUE DIARY
APPROACHING DEATH VICTIM OF PLANE CRASH NOTES BY JOURNALIST (United Press Assn.—Telegraph Copyright.) (Rec. 6.40 p.m.) London, August 10. The Daily Telegraph’s Amsterdam correspondent says that a unique diary in the history of aviation has just been published. It describes approaching death as seen by the Dutch journalist Vanlanglen, a victim of the disaster of July 20. It discloses incessant rain in the early stages, records climbing to escape the storm clouds. Seeing blue sky at 13,000 feet. Rain recurred at 15,000 feet. The diary adds: “My watch says 12.30 a.m. An explosion, then rain and rain. We are descending rapidly. 'The rain changes to snow. I can see nothing. The height is now 9000 feet. More snow. How we are dropping. Lightning shows the mountain peaks. We are just above them. Lightning again. We are now 6300 feet.” It was at that height that the plane struck the hillside.
The notes were begun in clear handwriting, developed into a scrawl and ended with a faint pencil mark made at the moment of death.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/ST19350812.2.69
Bibliographic details
Southland Times, Issue 25360, 12 August 1935, Page 7
Word Count
176UNIQUE DIARY Southland Times, Issue 25360, 12 August 1935, Page 7
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