THE AVIATION FATALITY.

Taranaki Daily News, 16 November 1920, Page 6

THE AVIATION FATALITY.

PRESS VIEWS. (Wellington Post.) During the many years in which iir't aerial experiments ;:iid ultiir.a'.oly foul tiying km- been carried oil in I\'c\v land, there have been only two i'atai accidents. The first, about two years ago, involved the death of Mr. C. Hill, tlie instructor of the Canterbury Aviation School, while lie was testing a new machine. The second happened on Thursday, when Captain Russell (the well-known aviator who recently spent several weeks in Wellington), while descending at the end of a pleasure flight with two passengers at New Plymouth, crashed and all three were killed. It was a allocking tragedy, and the relatives and frjends of the victims are assured of the condolence of the whole of the Dominion. As for aviation interests, the fatality can scarcely fail to be felt seriously, but it is to be hoped that it will not be given undue weight as evidence of intrinsic clanger in flying. Vnfortunately, the actual cause of the accident cannot, in all probability, be positively ascertained. The evidence before the Coroner's inrjuesl indicated that the aeroplane was in perfect order: Captain Russell was known and trusted as a thoroughly reliable pilot; and nobod) saw anything that would directly account for the accident. The sifting of evidence, both as to ascertain robahlvp evidence, both as to observation of accidents and the material of wrecks, is an important work highly developed by aviation experts at Home, and has not only revealed the causes of many failures, but has resulted in preventive measures. Without an investigation by specially trained experts, an accident of this kind may defy explanation. Mr Walsh, one of the owners of the machine, stated that the aeroplane banked for n turn in order to land, at a height of about 200 feet, canted as if struck by a gust, and went into a spin from which, in the remaining height, it was not able to recover. Without a full knowledge of the behaviour of the engine at this critical moment, this evidence is probably not sufficient to explain the disaster. Mr. Warnock, brother of the lady who was killed, himself an aviator, stated thai he had seen the same sort of accident happen to many good machines. On the face of this evidence, the common saying that it is more dangerous to "come down than to go up is borne out. At the same time, it is to be remembered that this is the first time that a landing has proved fatal in New Zealand. and that many hundreds are made yearly.