LOST AIR LINER

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 12, 15 January 1936, Page 7

LOST AIR LINER

ILL-FATED CITY OF KHARTOUM INQUEST ON THE VICTIMS. PILOT’S GRAPHIC STORY. [By Ttlerraiih— Preos Association —Copyright) ALEXANDRIA, Jan. 13. The inquest ou the City of Khartoum victims has opened. Pilot Wilson, in giving evidence, stated that within a minute of sending his last wireless message, w’hich was the signal for winding in the aerial, all of the engines failed simultaneously. The altimeter was registering 600 feet and visibility was good. He put the machine at the correct diving angle, but since the airscrews had stopped he lost 100 feet before attaining the correct angle. The glide was normal, except a little steeper, than if the engines were running. The ’plane struck the water in fifteen seconds, shattering any hope of making a safe landing. Impossible to See the Water. “Before hitting the water I was only slightly anxious, owing to the £act that I had not the normal aids for landing, like flares or buoys. I flattened out the ’plane at the moment of contact with the sea. It was impossible to see th? water in these circumstances since the nose light was only for picking out obstacles ahead. I had never before landed with only nose lights. One of the petrol gauges showed 25 gallons and the other nil. There was enough petrol for 20 minutes’ flying. Wilson expressed the opinion that possibly a breakage in the petrol feed or an obstruction caused the disaster. He added tliat he climbed on the sinking ’plane and remained until it sank. He spoke to the passenger Luke after the crash, also to Amor, who was a strong swimmer. He was himself nearly run down by the Brilliant which eventually picked him up. The Court listened tensely, while a doctor described the causes of death of the victims. The coroner asked the Court to stand in silence in sympathy with the dead. It will be at least three or four weeks before the technical investigation is concluded. The medical evidence disclosed that Garrett and two of the crew died from drowning, and seven others, who had fractured skulls, were killed instantly. Dramatic Final Scene. Mr. Wilson gave a dramatic account of the final scene. “I made a good normal contact with, the -water, but almost immediately afterwards the nose of the ’plane was buried in solid water as though it had run into a large swell. I found myself in the water one second after the ’plane had made contact with the sea. I undid the safety valves and extricated myself from the cockpit, which was open. Then getting to the surface I saw the ’plan standing on its nose, practically vertically. It took fifteen to twenty minutes for me to strip off my clothes. Only the starboard wingtip and tail structure were visible, silhoutted against the sky. I drifted holding the cockpit cushion, which was soon sodden. I then swam to the ’plane and climbed on the tail, where I found a passenger, who asked what chances there were of being picked up. “I reassured him, 1 saw another passenger swimming and trying to climb on the tail of the ’plane, but he was repeatedly swept off by the swell. I pulled him ou to the tail of the ’plane. The swell was nine feet from crest to trough, which, was considerable as far as landing a flying-boat was concerned. Both passengers swam off into the dark- ! ness. By this time 45 minutes had elapsed. I remained on the tail of the , ’plane and! then the rudder until it was submerged. I then swam to the starboard wingtip, where I remained until 9.30 p.m., when the ’plane sank. My luminous watch had not stopped i and I was on the wingtip for an hour.” ’ Mr. Wilson described how he swam until he was picked up at 5 a.m.

CONTROL OF FLYING SOME OF THE DIFFICULTIES QUESTION RAISED IN BRITAIN LONDON, Jan. 13. Regarding the report of Air Commodore Sidney Smith, commanding the Royal Air Force in the Far Eaet, which communicated strong views to the Air Ministry concerning the control of long-distance flights, following Sir Charles Kingsford Smith’s tragedy, the official opinion is that little can be done beyond the issue of permits for flying over foreign countries. The suggestion that pilots should rigidly adhere to their announced routes is a fine theory, but is impracticable, climatic conditions and mechanical defects often making changes of routes necessary.