TWO AIR FORCE ’PLANES DAMAGED.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 46, 24 February 1931, Page 5

TWO AIR FORCE ’PLANES DAMAGED.

bad weather causes LANDINGS AT GERALDINE. Per Press Association. TIMARU, February 23. Two Government aeroplanes, one piloted by Wing-Commander Grant Dalton, who had a passenger, and the other piloted by Flight-Sergeant S. Simpson, who had as passenger FlightSergeant L. A. Dini, made forced landings near “ Silverton,” the homestead of Mr J. M. H. Tripp, fourteen miles from Geraldine, shortly after ten o’clock this morning, when returning from Dunedin to Christchurch. Fortunately the four occupants escaped with a severe shaking. At the time of the mishap the atmospheric conditions were particularly bad, the clouds being low, and electrical disturbances taking place in the vicinity, while air pockets gave trouble. Without a moment’s warning the planes crashed almost simultaneously. The metal ’plane, piloted by WingCommander Grant Dalton, was the first to reach land. It suffered a broken under-carriage and other damage. The wooden Moth landed a . few moments later, the under-carriage being totally wrecked, the propeller smashed, and considerable other damage caused. The field where the ’planes crashed is a tussocky, wind-swept waste. The marvel is that the occupants of the wooden Moth were not killed, as the under-carriage was pushed up through the flooring. The pilot’s seat and the most exposed parts were badly smashed. A Government lorry was sent from Sockburn, and the 'wooden machine is to be sent to Christchurch for repairs.