HONEYMOON COUPLE’S THRILL

Taranaki Daily News, 23 March 1935, Page 16 (Supplement)

HONEYMOON COUPLE’S THRILL

AEROPLANE FALLS INTO SEA Returning from their honeymoon by air. a couple had a remarkable escape from serious injury when the mail aeroplane in which they were travelling fell into the sea near the mouth of the River Ness at Inverness. The machine landed in five feet of water when the tide was coming in, but after a quarter of an hour the pilot and passengers were rescued by a fishing boat, and the mails salvaged. The machine, belonging to Highland Airways, Ltd., was oh the way to Kirkwall, in the Orkneys. It was piloted by Mr Eric Coleman, the other occupants being Mr and Mrs William Firth, of Dunsyre, Harray, who were returning from their honeymoon at Inverness. “We had reached an altitude of about 80ft when we began to lose height,” Mr Coleman stated, “and to avoid coming down in deep water, where we would have been drowned, I had the alternative of making for Avoch or returning to the aerodrome. Avoch presented a very slight chance, so we turned back.

“The aeroplane continued to fall, however, and '3O yards from the shore we landed in about five feet of water, I broke through from the cockpit and saw that my two passengers were not seriously injured. We were later rescued by a motor fishing boat.” Describing the accident, Mr Firth, who is a building contractor, said: "My wife was very clam, but naturally we were a little scared. We were thrown about the aeroplane when it struck the sea, and icy-cold water came up to our waists.”