Allan Mortimer was flying a Vought Corsair fighter on a night flying exercise when he radioed his base to inform them that he was bailing out due to technical problems. A witness on the ground saw him do so, then saw the plane hit a hill and explode. A flight of Harvard trainers was put up to search for the Corsair next morning at 0700 but bad weather forced their return and they took off again at 0945. They were called back when the wreckage was found by a ground party 15 minutes after their second take off.
AIRMAN'S DEATH CRASH INTO HILL AT NIGHT
An inquest into the death of an airman, Flight-Sergeant Allan McDougall Mortimer, aged 21, of Brydone, Southland, who died in an aircraft crash at Kaiaua, near Mangatangi, on the night of April 15, was held before the coroner, Mr A. Addison, yesterday.
Allen Herbert Oppert, a farm hand, said that at the back of the farm where he worked there was a trig station known as Workman's Trig, standing on a knoll about 1500ft high. At about 10 p.m. on April 15 he heard an aeroplane circling the house. It seemed to be flying at a low altitude. On going outside he saw the machine flying toward the trig station. It crashed into the knoll about 100ft below the trig. There was a terrific explosion and the machine burst into flames. The weather was fine at the time of the crash, but there had been drizzling rain before.
The coroner returned a verdict that deceased had died as the result of injuries suffered in a crash-landing while carrying out night flying exercises. -NZ Herald, 21/6/1945.
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