THOUGHT THEY SAW FALLING ’PLANE

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 80, Issue 90, 18 April 1938, Page 6

THOUGHT THEY SAW FALLING ’PLANE

REPORT FROM NUKUMARU SEARCH MADE OF OKEHU BEACH NO AIRCRAFT REPORTED MISSING A report was received by the Wanganui police on Saturday evening that an aeroplane, in smoke, had been seen descending towards the Okehu Beach, north of Wanganui and south of Waverley. Two women residents of Nukumaru stated that they were certain of their facts and that they had seen, in addition to the falling ’plane, what they took to be a parachute. Constable 11. J. Olsen, of Waitotara, toegther with Mr H. Siddall, postmaster at Maxwell, Immediately set off to search the shore. Darkness was falling but they were able to make an examination of the locality about where the ’plane was supposed to have landed. They looked up and down the coast for a considerable distance each way, but could see no sign of a wrecked 'plane or of any person likely to be connected with one. The area searched was along sand-dune country covered with prolific growth of lupins, and it was impossible to make any further investigations until daylight. Constable Olsen returned Io Waitotara at midnight on Saturday and was out again yesterday morning. He searched over a wide area all day, returning to Waitotara at night. No trace was found of any wreckage or of any sign of a person having made descent by parachute and been injured. The two women who reported the matter to the police are very clear in their recollection of what happened. One saw wnat she thought was a huge kite falling from the clouds and drew her companion’s attention to it. It then appeared to them quite distinctly as a parachute witn a black object affording weight to bring it down. It was drifting southwards. According to their story, almost immediately after they had seen the parachute, an aeroplane, trailing fairly thick smoke, was seen coming downward from the clouds. It was planing sharply toward the ground and drifting south. Then it was lost behind a dark line of pines between the observers and the sea. A second or so afterwards a momentary flash flared up as though the machine had burst into flames to be just as suddenly extinguished again. The theory behind that was that the machine had fallen into the sea and not on land. The observers esiimate that they were some four miles from the shore at the time. When they again tried to sight the parachute it had disappeared.

Communications were made with the Director of Air Services, Wellington, advising the incident, but up to the time of going to press the report from Nukumaru remained unexplained.