PILOT DIES AFTER TOP-DRESSING PLANE CRASHES AT KOEKE

Wanganui Chronicle, 1 November 1950, Page 4

PILOT DIES AFTER TOP-DRESSING PLANE CRASHES AT KOEKE

The pilot, of a Tiger Moth aircraft died as the result of injuries he received when his machine crashed soon after taking off on a top-dressing flight yesterday on the property of Mr J. C. Revell, Koeke, 22 miles from Taihape. He was:

Mr Stephen Symes, married, a South African, employed by the Aerial Fertiliser Company, Wellington.

Several tons of fertiliser had been dropped during the day and Mr Symes took off shortly after 3 p.m. with a full load from an airstrip on the property. He crashed into a small hill at the top end of a valley shortly after. It is thought that the aircraft did not have sufficient speed to avoid the hill. The accident was seen from Mr | Revell’s homestead, and the settlers went to the scene immediately. I’he pilot was still alive, but had received extensive injuries. He died in the ambulance on the way to the Taihape Hospital some two hours later. The company had been operating in the district since last Thursday and began top-dressing on Mr Revell’s farm yesterday. Senior-Sergeant Griffiths, of the Taihape police, went to the scene when advice of the accident was received in Taihape. An inquest will be opened in Taihape this morning.