AIR LINER SMASH.

Taranaki Daily News, 20 August 1926, Page 7

AIR LINER SMASH.

ONE KILLED; NINE INJURED. A MASS OF WRECKAGE. CAUGHT IN A FOG. By Telegraph-Press Assn.—Copyright. London, Aug. 18. A French air liner, with 13 passengers, struck the roof of a building near Lymp© aerodrome during a fog and crashed. One passenger was killed and the pilot, mechanic and nine passengers seriously injured. Another fatal accident occurred to a Royal Air Force machine near Cambridge, making the fifth within a week. When the plane crashed it burst into flames. The rescuers were driven back by the explosion of machine-gun ammunition, and the pilot was incinerated. BARN ROOF STRUCK. Received Aug. 19, 7.35 p.m. London, Aug. 19. The aeroplane crash was the worst of its kind. The pilot was evidently attempting a forced landing in a meadow five miles from Lympe in fog and rain. After circling at a low altitude he struck a barn roof after which he had no control. One of the wings was knocked off by the top of a haystack, and the other hit a second stack, turning the machine completely round before it crashed. The forepart of the machine was crumpled up into a mass of wreckage and buried in the scattered hay. A farmer and three labourers had a very narrow escape from the shower of debris. They ran to give assistance and found the passengers thrown in a heap at the side of the saloon. One of those killed was an American, and the other an Italian. Nine others were injured critically and are in the Folkstone Hospital.