CRASH AT NIGHT.
BOMBING PLANE SMASHED.
Pilot's Miraculous Escape.
ENGINE TORN OUT. ACCIDENT NEAR ASHBURTON. LBy Teiegrapn. —Press Association; WELLINGTON, March 25. A miraculous escape from death was experienced by Pilot Officer E. S. Reynolds wlieu a Vickers Vildebeeste bomber crashed during night hying exercises east of Ashburton.
Marks on the ground indicate that the landing wheels struck a high gorso fence, the 'plane landing a few yards inside the fence, with the nose well down and the propeller chewing up the ground. It ran 60yds like this, when the engine hit the ground and the plane somersaulted twice, coming to rest on its back nearly 200yds from the fence.
The engine was torn out, the undercarriage was wiped off, the nose completely smashed, the top wing shattered and the lower wing broken beyond repair.
The pilot enly suffered minor abrasions. He did not know he was near the ground until the 'plane -struck a hedge and he had no opportunity to light the wing-tip flares. The 'plane apparently hit the ground at the normal cruising speed of 120 miles an hour.
Permanent link to this item
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/THS19380325.2.17
Bibliographic details
Thames Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 20271, 25 March 1938, Page 3
Word Count
182CRASH AT NIGHT. Thames Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 20271, 25 March 1938, Page 3
Using This Item
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Thames Star. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New Zealand licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Log in