DEATH OF FLYING OFFICER

Southland Times, Issue 24573, 23 October 1941, Page 4

DEATH OF FLYING OFFICER

EVIDENCE AT INQUEST (P.A.) NEW PLYMOUTH, October 22. The events preceding the crash of an Ah- Force aeroplane at Stratford aerodrome on Octobei- 12 were related today at the inquest into the death of Flying Officei- Jack Rua Coath. The Coroner found that Coath died as a result of a broken skull. Donald E. White, president of the Stratford Aero Club, said the plane was flying eastwards at about 600 feet. It appeared to go into a left-hand climbing turn and then into a left-hand spin. It spun into the ground. Coath was in the front cockpit. Similar evidence was given by Henry Scott, vice-captain of the chib. The weather was clear with a gusty wind, he said. Leading Aircraftman Gordon F. Forbes, who was in the rear cockpit, said he remembered the machine taking off and making the normal circuit of the aerodrome, but from that stage his memory was a blank. Coath, to the best of his knowledge, was a capable flying officer, said FlightLieutenant Kenneth Gordon Smith, chief flying instructor at Bell Block. Apart from the damage caused by the crash the aircraft was thoroughly airworthy, said Flight-Lieutenant Hubert Henry Smith, ground officei- at Bell Block, who examined the machine after the accident. He was satisfied the accident was not due to any mechanical defect in the machine.

.Flight-Lieutenant Frederick James McDonald, of Bell Block, said the machine was a suitable one to fly on that day. As far as he was aware everything humanly possible was done to see the machine was in first-class order.