Post by Dave Homewood on Dec 14, 2023 7:54:27 GMT 12
I came across this article in The Press dated 18th of March 1974, what a sad story. A reminder to keep a sharp look out in the circuit.
TWO PLANES COLLIDE IN MID-AIR
Man and child killed
(New Zealand Press Association) AUCKLAND, March 17.
Two light aircraft — one carrying a man and three young boys — collided in mid-air and plummeted to the ground at Dairy Flat tonight, killing two persons and injuring three.
“Delta Juliet Exray—overshoot! There’s an aircraft beneath you” was the last-second radio appeal from an instructor before the two aircraft crashed on to a farm, about 1000 ft from the North Shore Aero Club’s landing strip.
The aircraft were making landing approaches to the airfield at Dairy Flat, about 20 miles from Auckland, when they collided about 1000 ft short of the runway.
Witnesses said both aircraft veered sharply upwards, then stalled and crashed.
One aircraft, a Cessna Skyhawk, nose-dived into the ground and remained in that position. The other, a Cessna Aerobat, also appeared to have nosedived into the ground, and ended on its back.
The pilot of the Aerobat was a 42-year-old driver from Torbay. The police are trying to trace his relatives in England. The Cessna Skyhawk was flown by Franklin John Restall, aged 38, a chemist, of Milford, who is in a serious condition in Auckland Hospital. A 13-year-old nephew of Mr Restall was killed. He was Neil Andrew Harris, son of Mr and Mrs I. W. Harris, of Lansdowne Road, Bayswater. Also travelling in the Cessna were Neil Harris’s seven-year-old brother, Rodney Peter Hanis, and Mr Restall’s son, John Paul Restall, aged nine. Both are in serious condition in Auckland Hospital. The accident happened at 5.40 p.m., in overcast weather. North Shore ambulances arrived about half an hour later. 20 yards apart The planes crashed into a field about 20 yards apart, and about 70 yards from the road. The airfield was on the other side of the road, about 1000 feet away. The first man on the scene was a club member, Mr George Pearson, of Silverdale.
He pulled one screaming child from the rear of the aircraft after using the aircraft’s axe to cut the safety belt.
The child, aged five to six, was shocked but apparently not injured. Other club members arrived, and an injured child was freed from the aircraft, and then the dead child. Foot trapped
Rescuers were able to pull the pilot partly from the aircraft, but his foot remained trapped under the controls. They waited to free him until a fire appliance arrived with cutting equipment. "I did not go to the Aerobat because I knew it was no use,” Mr Pearson said. A club official said the Cessna Aerobat was making a practice landing, and the other aircraft was returning to land after a scenic flight. An Auckland inspector of air accidents is expected to examine the wrecks tomorrow.
The club president, Mr M. G. W. Smith, was standing on the edge of the runway when the accident happened. “The Skyhawk was at the higher altitude. The Aerobat was only a little lower, but I couldn’t tell whether they were actually over the top of each other.
“Then I started to get a bit concerned. They were only 1000 feet short of the runway, and they appeared to be only 75 or 100 feet from the ground. “Both appeared to climb. It seemed as though one was veering away from the other.
“The Skyhawk started to climb, then appeared to stall, and nosedived. I can’t quite recollect what happened to the Aerobat. It might have been struck on the way down.”
TWO PLANES COLLIDE IN MID-AIR
Man and child killed
(New Zealand Press Association) AUCKLAND, March 17.
Two light aircraft — one carrying a man and three young boys — collided in mid-air and plummeted to the ground at Dairy Flat tonight, killing two persons and injuring three.
“Delta Juliet Exray—overshoot! There’s an aircraft beneath you” was the last-second radio appeal from an instructor before the two aircraft crashed on to a farm, about 1000 ft from the North Shore Aero Club’s landing strip.
The aircraft were making landing approaches to the airfield at Dairy Flat, about 20 miles from Auckland, when they collided about 1000 ft short of the runway.
Witnesses said both aircraft veered sharply upwards, then stalled and crashed.
One aircraft, a Cessna Skyhawk, nose-dived into the ground and remained in that position. The other, a Cessna Aerobat, also appeared to have nosedived into the ground, and ended on its back.
The pilot of the Aerobat was a 42-year-old driver from Torbay. The police are trying to trace his relatives in England. The Cessna Skyhawk was flown by Franklin John Restall, aged 38, a chemist, of Milford, who is in a serious condition in Auckland Hospital. A 13-year-old nephew of Mr Restall was killed. He was Neil Andrew Harris, son of Mr and Mrs I. W. Harris, of Lansdowne Road, Bayswater. Also travelling in the Cessna were Neil Harris’s seven-year-old brother, Rodney Peter Hanis, and Mr Restall’s son, John Paul Restall, aged nine. Both are in serious condition in Auckland Hospital. The accident happened at 5.40 p.m., in overcast weather. North Shore ambulances arrived about half an hour later. 20 yards apart The planes crashed into a field about 20 yards apart, and about 70 yards from the road. The airfield was on the other side of the road, about 1000 feet away. The first man on the scene was a club member, Mr George Pearson, of Silverdale.
He pulled one screaming child from the rear of the aircraft after using the aircraft’s axe to cut the safety belt.
The child, aged five to six, was shocked but apparently not injured. Other club members arrived, and an injured child was freed from the aircraft, and then the dead child. Foot trapped
Rescuers were able to pull the pilot partly from the aircraft, but his foot remained trapped under the controls. They waited to free him until a fire appliance arrived with cutting equipment. "I did not go to the Aerobat because I knew it was no use,” Mr Pearson said. A club official said the Cessna Aerobat was making a practice landing, and the other aircraft was returning to land after a scenic flight. An Auckland inspector of air accidents is expected to examine the wrecks tomorrow.
The club president, Mr M. G. W. Smith, was standing on the edge of the runway when the accident happened. “The Skyhawk was at the higher altitude. The Aerobat was only a little lower, but I couldn’t tell whether they were actually over the top of each other.
“Then I started to get a bit concerned. They were only 1000 feet short of the runway, and they appeared to be only 75 or 100 feet from the ground. “Both appeared to climb. It seemed as though one was veering away from the other.
“The Skyhawk started to climb, then appeared to stall, and nosedived. I can’t quite recollect what happened to the Aerobat. It might have been struck on the way down.”
