Hendon Disaster
EVIDENCE AT THE INQUIRY AN AIRMAN’S GENEROSITY (By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright) LONDON, May 4. Flight-Lieut. Eric Hobson, adjutant of Viscount Kncbworth’s squadron, sought to take the blame for the crash at the inquest. He explained that he had not attempted a spectacular but merely an ordinary bombing dive from 2000 feet, whence it was customary to come out at 500 feet. “I was leading the V shaped flight. Three ’planes began to pull out of the dive at 600 ft. Somehow I continued to lose height until dangerously near the ground. Viscount Knebworth was obliged to follow me and had not a good view of the ground. 1 cannot satisfactorily explain the happenings, except that I suffered a ‘blacking out/ by which in high speed flying the mind ceases to function for a fraction of a second.”
The coroner paid a tribute to FlightLieut. Hobson *s generosity and sportsmanship in taking the blame. He did not do himself justice. “Nobody knows what happened, and it would bo more generous to say that it was an act of God.” The verdict was one of misadventure.
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Bibliographic details
Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 76, Issue 105, 6 May 1933, Page 7
Word Count
185Hendon Disaster Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 76, Issue 105, 6 May 1933, Page 7
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