FATAL CRASH

Waipawa Mail, Volume LXVI, Issue 69, 28 February 1938, Page 2

FATAL CRASH

WHILST PERFORMING AEROBATICS. CHRISTCHURCH, Last night. When the aeroplane in whieh he was performing aerobatics in the Prebbleton district this morning tailed to straighten after a spin, and crashed into a field, its sole occupant, Clifford Albert Burminster, single, aged 22, Christchurch, was killed almost instantly. The machine, a new Miles Magister Monoplane, was completely wrecked. Mr Burmister had about 22 hours flying to his credit, some 10 solo. He was a trainee of the Canterbury Aero Club under the Government civil reserve scheme. The machine went into a spin from the top of a loop, Mr Burmister having done dual aerobatics earlier ill the morning. Mr K. Hammond, a nearby resident, said he thought the pliot was trying to straighten out when the ’plane struck the ground. The machine was not falling at a very steep angle, and he considered it went into a spin about 750 or 1000 feet up. Mr Burmister died a few seconds after being taken from the wreckage. He was sitting in the rear cockpit. The undercarriage was torn from the machine, both wings were smashed, the power unit was torn from the fuselage, and the front cockpit crushed. but the tail unit was almost intact.