CRASH OF AIR LINER

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXV, Issue 18646, 15 August 1930, Page 9

CRASH OF AIR LINER

VERDICT OF CORONER. United Press Association—By Electric Tel egraph—Cop y ri gh t LONDON, August 13. The Coroner, at the resumed Meopham inquest, said he was satisfied that the machine was not overloaded. There was no evidence of faulty material or bad •workmanship. The jury returned a verdict that the deaths were due to the machine breaking up in the air, the cause being unknown. CRASH OF BIG AIR LINER. SIX PASSENGERS KILLED. A British air taxi from Le Touquet crashed near Gravesend on July 21. Villagers at Meopham, near Gravesend, saw the big aeroplane wobbling badly as it approached from the Channel in pouring rain. An explosion occurred and pieces of wreckage came floating down. The machine crashed into an orchard. The passengers, who were prominent members of Society, were all killed instantly. The victims were:— The Marquis of Dufferin and Ava. Sir Edward Ward. The Viscountess Ednam. Mrs Henrik Leoffler. Pilot Colonel G. Henderson. Second Pilot C. Shearing. The machine was an all-metal Junker ’plane belonging to Colonel Henderson, of the Flyjng Bureau, and was lent to Walcot Air Lines in order to cope with the pressure on the service. Five of the bodies, terribly mutilated, were found in the orchard. Colonel Henderson lay nearby still strapped in the pilot’s seat, but he expired as rescuers arrived.