PILOT ALARMS MANY BATHERS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 19270, 6 January 1931, Page 14

PILOT ALARMS MANY BATHERS.

FLIES AT PERILOUSLY LOW RANGE OVER BEACH. (Special to the “ Star.”) AUCKLAND, January 5. Flying at perilously low range and twice swooping down towards the sands before disappearing be3'ond the point, an aeroplane created much alarm among bathers and promenaders at Milford Beach yesterday afternoon. The occurrence was officially investigated this morning by the Auckland Aero Club, but as the registration letters had not been supplied it was impossible to trace the machine, assuming that it was the property of the club. According to eye-witnesses, at about 4.10 p.m. there was a sudden roar of an engine, and an aeroplane appeared over the beach flying at a height which caused many people to look round for a place of safety. A few women screamed. men shouted and waved their hands and children dived for the cover of the retaining-wall. The confusion saw bathers attempt to leave the water, and those on shore make as though to step into their clothes. Twice, so spectators assert, the ’plane dipped as though it were about to land, and then made for the point, still flying dangerously low. As it disappeared from view many thought the machine had crashed and some started to go towards it, but it was seen to rise again. The incident was all over quickly, but it gave those on the beach an unpleasant thrill. “It was the act of a madman,” commented one eye-witness in describing the incident. “I have had some exciting experiences in ray life, but never want another as hair-raising as that. How anyone in charge of an aeroplane could l>e so foolhardy as to stunt in that irresponsible fashion, with human lives the forfeit if anything went amiss, is beyond my comprehension. If I could have laid my hands on the pilot at the moment there would have been, I can assure you, a reckoning which everybody on the beach would have supported.”