MAN AND WIFE KILLED

Taranaki Daily News, 4 June 1935, Page 3

MAN AND WIFE KILLED

: ESSENDON AIR CRASH MR. AND MRS. FAIRBAIRN’S FATE. CRASH ON MACADAMISED ROAD. A well-known aviator, Mr. George Patrick Fairbairn, of Lara, Victoria, and his I wife, formerly Miss Mary Murray, Were killed instantly when their aeroplane crashed at North Essendon, on the morning, of May 26. Mrs. Fairbairn was flying the machine back to their station at Lara, after they had spent the weekend in Melbourne. ' .' 1 About ? two miles from the Essendon aerodrome, where the fliers had taken off a few minutes previously, the engine of the' machine failed, and, while Mrs. Fairbairn" was . attempting to make a forced landing, the machine got out of control, spun downward violently for several - seconds, and crashed on the macadamised road with terrific force.

Both' socially ?.and among. aviators, Mr. and Mrs, Fairbairn were exceptionally popular. They were prominent-members of the Royal Aero Club of Victoria, and they were members of a family which Has become ! known as the “Flying Fairbairns.” Mr. Fairbairn was a pilot of considerable experience, having flown from London to Melbourne in the machine which crashed, and his wife was one of the first women pilots in Victoria. She held many aero club trophies. At the aerodrome, as Mr. and Mrs. Fairbairn walked to the aeroplane, which had been left in the hangar of the: Hart Aircraft Company, for, the night, Mrs. Fairbairn remarked to a mechanic, “What a lovely morning for flying!” Between the time when she climbed into the pilot’s cockpit at the rear of the Spartan Sports machine behind her husband, who was in the front cockpit, and the accident, not mo're than three minutes could have elapsed. '' The aeroplane, which was fitted with dual controls, was flying smoothly at a height of about ?300ft, when the engine spluttered and stopped. Observations of I the position of the machine after the crash and the course that it was flying before indicate that, immediately the engine stopped, Mrs. Fairbairn selected a large field, about a quarter of a mile to her left,-to which to glide down and land. The closeness of the field to the r-achine necessitated skilful flying to reach it, but a wind-break of tall pine trees, directly, in the course of . the machine, obstructed the only other paddock in which she apparently thought that she could have .landed. MACHINE REBOUNDS FROM ROAD. The rate of descent ,in the grade is believed to have been too steep for Mrs. Fairbairn to pilot the machine over the pine trees. She was forced to attempt a left-handed gliding turn toward the clear fleld. Half way through the turn, the machine lost flying speed, the nose dropped sharply, and it went into a spin. It is thought possible that the machrne got out of control at this stage, through a heavy suitcase, which' was in the front cockpit, slicing on to the rudder bar and jamming it. Another possibility is that Mrs. Fairbairn overcorrected the rudder when the turn began. In the views of scores of persons in motor-cars and: in adjoining paddocks, the machine whirled toward the road at a speed estimated at more than 120 miles an hour. - The , report of ■ the crash was heard more than two miles away. Rebounding several feet into the air, the machine swung 24ft to the side of the road, and broke into a mass of tom fabric, splintered wood and twisted metal. The'fuselage was crumpled as far back as the rear cockpit. Mrs. Fairbairn, who was hurled against her safety strap with such force that it broke, was flung 10 yards from the machine on to the grass at the side of the road.

Mr. Fairbairn was crushed by the motor, which was torn from its bearings and forced back into his cockpit. With the engine jammed against his neck, Mr. Fairbairn’s head was forced against his feet, and his body was almost completely covered by the wreckge. The prompt swerving of his motor-truck saved Mr. E. BombaU, of East Melbourne, from being crushed under the machine. Mr. Fairbairn, who was aged 26, was, as a boy, a pupil of the. Geelong Grammar School, and he became an undergraduate at Jesus College, Cambridge, in 1927. Later he joined the Cambridge University Air Force. In 1932, Mr. Fairbairn and Mr. K. Shenstone made a leisurely flight to Australia, Mrs. Fairbairn, who was also aged 26, was the only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Stuart Murray, of East Melbourne. She was regarded as an exceptionally able woman pilot, and had made many long country flights. She married Mr. Fairbairn about two years ago. They have left a daughter aged 14 months. The remains of Mr. and Mrs. Fairbairn were cremated in Melbourne last Tuesday. Over 200 wreaths, including many from other States, were placed around the coffins. The procession was escorted by a flight of three aeroplanes from the Royal Victorian Aero Club, which circled over the crematorium m a last salute.