TRAGIC AIR CRASH

Taranaki Daily News, 27 October 1932, Page 9

TRAGIC AIR CRASH

- ■■■ ■- <■ I LOSS OF THREE LIVES TWO NOTABLE AUSTRALIANS. TERRIBLE DIVE TO EARTH. (N.Z. Herald Correspondent.) Sydney, September 21. Two figures famous in the country’s brief aviation history were lost to Australia on Sunday when a Puss Moth crashed near '■Byron Bay, on the north coast of New South Wales, killing the ■ three occupants, Captain Les. Holden, . Dr. G. R. Hamilton and the pilot, Mr. Ralph Virtue. The aeroplane was on its way from Sydney to Brisbane when the crash occurred, and was flying in <■ wretched weather. A Warning as to the cyclonic conditions that prevailed had previously been issued by the weather bureau, but it was not of such a nature that it would deter men like Holden and Dr. Hamilton -from taking a flight. Both men, Captain Holden and Dr. Hamilton, had had wide experience in flying in Australia, and it would seem that the plane had passed through the worst of the weather before the disaster occurred. It is probable, therefore, .that the machine was strained as a result of it® battles through numerous rainstorms, and that the direct-cause of the crash was the collapse of the wing. As the (nachine has been hopelessly wrecked it is doubtful whether the experts will be able to locate the actual trouble.

STORIES BY EYE-WITNESSES.

Stories by eye-witnesses, and the position •of the aeroplane after it struck the earth, point to. the collapse of one of the wings. How this came about will be difficult to explain, for the machine was one that had stood up to the most severe tests, and immediately before the fatal flight it was examined by a Federal officer f and announced to be in perfect order. Two people who saw the crash have told the police that the aeroplane appeared to be wobbling and following an erratic course until something fell from it. Then it- rose suddenly, turned a complete somersault, and finally dived 100 ft. to the ground. One man said that' the aeroplane “appeared to fall to pieces in the air,” and then, suddenly, it fell like a rocket. The noise when it struck the ground was heard more than a mile away. When first seen near where the disaster took place the machine was flying at a height of 500 ft. It just skimmed a hill, and then it was brought closer to earth, the pilot, apparently, making a desperate endeavour to find a suitable landing place.

ANOTHER ACCOUNT OF CRASH.

Another story of the crash was told by Mr, George Plaster, a farmer, who assisted to extricate thb bodies from the broken machine. He said that when he first Saw the plane it appeared to be following the usual course to Brisbane, but was very low. As the machine appeared over a ridge there was a heavy fall of rain, and the pilot seemed to.be in difficulties. The plane was wobbling from side to side. Then it somersaulted, but t-ho pilot -was quick to gain control., -

When the pilot seemed to have mastered the situation, said Mr. Plaster, the plane seemed to fall to pieces in the air. The rudder fell off, and then a portion of the wing broke away. The plane dived to the earth with a tremendous crash. It buried itself momentarily in the ground, and then shot forward for about 15 yards and came to rest. Many farmers rushed to the scene of the crash, but when they arrived the occupants of the plane were beyond help. They had Buffered dreadful injuries, and in each ease death was instantaneous.

CAPTAIN HOLDEN’S GREAT RECORD.

After reviewing Captain Holden’s wonderful record at the war and in time of peace it seems remarkable that he should [' have been fated to meet death in the manner ho did. At the war he. earned a Military Cross and a Royal Air Force Cross, and when he returned to /Australia he gave thrilling displays of avia-, tion in the cause of patriotic movements. It did much to foster the big Peace Loan Campaign. In France his machine was disabled bn several occasions, but he always turned up safely, and he earned for himself the nicknames “Lucky Holden” and "The Homing Pigeon.” "When he was only .- a youth Captain Holden > had a thrilling adventure with the - famous German airman Baron von Richtofenj and escaped only after, a remarkable display of aerobatics. He earned most fame, however, because he was the pilot of the machine which found the Southern Cross in which Sir Charles Kingsford Smith and Mr. C. T. P. Ulm were lost in North-western Australia on their memorable flight to England in 1920.

Captain Holden’s companion on that hotabie . flight was his 'companion in death, Dr. Hamilton, a Macquarie Street specialist, who has devoted years of his life to flying. It was his great nobby. Dr. Hamilton and Captain Holden were almost inseparable and had made scores of flights together-flights in every kind pf weather. ’ THRESHOLD OF SUCCESS. Dr. Hamilton has left a widow and two children and Captain Holden a Widow and three children. Captain Holden recently started an aviation service in New Guinea and he was on the threshold of success. He was spending ». holiday in Sydney and was looking forward to his return to New Guinea In about a month’s time, when he would have had two new machines. His service will be carried on. The other victim of the tragedy, Mr. Virtue, was a resident ©f Lismore. He was a single man of £7, and only a month ago obtained his license as a commercial pilot. When Captain Holden went in search of the Southern Cross in the Canberra he had a crew of four, and now only one man survives. ' He is Mr. J. W. Stannage. y Mr. Stannage is at present in Adelaide with Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, who is making passenger flight# in South Australia. The fourth member of the famous crew was Roy Mitchell, the mechanic, who was killed in ja: crash about 12 months ago.