Neale and Gwenda Sutherland, Richard Mansfield, David Farquharson. Died 5/5/1949.

 

PILOT AND THREE PASSENGERS

Aero Club’s Proctor Stalls after Take-off 

TRAGEDY AT INVERCARGILL AIRPORT 

Staff Reporter INVERCARGILL June 5. Four Dunedin persons were killed when a Percival Proctor aircraft belonging to the Otago Aero Club crashed in a field adjourning the Invercargill airport at 11.30 this morning. The plane was completely wrecked and the occupants must have been killed instantly. A Daily Times reporter, who reached the airfield shortly after the crash, saw all that remained of what had been a familiar aircraft about the Taieri aerodrome. It was a tangled mass of debris. A suitcase, a fur coat, a flying jacket, a shoe — these and other personal items of luggage brought home the real tragedy of the crash. The ground was saturated with petrol, but fire did not break out.

The occupants of the plane were:— Neale Cook Sutherland, the pilot, aged 27 years, married, of 57 Sutherland street, Dunedin.

Gwenda Sutherland, aged about 25 years, wife of the pilot.

Richard Ernest Mansfield, aged 23 years, tally clerk, single, of 153 Leith street, Dunedin. 

David Farquharson, aged about 36 years, single, clerk, of 40 Crosby street, Mornington, Dunedin.

The Proctor had been flown to Invercargill to take part in an air pageant, and, piloted by Sutherland, who was an assistant instructor of the Otago Aero Club, had just taken off on its return north when the tragedy occurred. The plane circled once round the aerodrome and from a height believed to be little more than 100 feet, the pilot apparently attempted a steep climbing turn. The machine appeared to stall and then crashed nose first into the field. So great was the impact that the nose was embedded in the ground with only half a propeller showing.

At the time of the take-off the weather was excellent for flying. The day was clear and there was practically no wind. The Proctor was a four-seater, single-engined low-wing monoplane. A police guard was placed over the wrecked plane and members of the public were not permitted to go near it. Hundreds of sightseers drove out to the scene of the accident and looked at the wreck from a distance. The police guard is being maintained to ensure that no part of the wreckage is touched before it can be inspected by the appropriate authorities. 

Today's crash is the first fatal accident which has occurred at the Invercargill aerodrome. 

The pilot of the plane, Mr Sutherland, was a former member of the RNZAF and served in fighter squadrons for three operation periods in the Pacific. He joined the Air Force in 1942 and was stationed at Taieri as an instructor for 18 months until he went overseas. He was mentioned in despatches for gallantry. He was an old boy of the Otago Boys’ High School. Mr and Mrs Sutherland had been married for about three years and had a daughter aged two. 

Mr Mansfield, who was aged 23, was a tally clerk employed by Dominion Industries, Ltd. He had recently been selected for the regular Air Force He was a keen member of the Dunedin Air Training Corps, and held the rank of warrant officer. In 1947, he was awarded the Bledisloe Trophy for the most promising pilot in New Zealand. His parents are Mr and Mrs Richard Mansfield, of 153 Leith street, Dunedin.

Mr Farquharson was the elder son of Mr and Mrs M. Farquharson, of 40 Crosby street, Mornington. He was a clerk employed by W. Gregg and Co., Ltd. He was an associate member of the Otago Aero Club and a member of the Otago Officers’ Club. Mr Farquharson served for several years in the 2nd NZEF and rose to the rank of captain. He was a single man.  -Otago Daily Times, 6/5/1949.

Percival Proctor of the Otago Aero Club.

Neale Cook Sutherland served with No. 14 Squadron, RNZAF. He was promoted from Flight Sergeant to Pilot Officer in July, 1943 and then to Flight Officer at the beginning of 1944.  I assume that it was then that he joined No. 14 Squadron, RNZAF, flying the Vought F4U Corsair fighter. The squadron had previously flown the Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk against the Japanese air forces with some success, considering that the P-40 was being phased out from the USAF at the time. By the time the Corsair was in service, Japanese planes were few and the Squadron was mostly engaged in ground attack missions.

Gwenda and Neale were engaged in September, 1946 and Neale had put the war behind him.  They were married three years, with a two year old child, when the crash occured.

Andersons Bay Cemetery, Dunedin. DCC photo.

CORONER BLAMES PILOT : FATAL AIR CRASH IN SOUTH

(P.A.) INVERCARGILL, Aug. 5.

“I have no doubt that Sutherland was an experienced pilot but the evidence leads me to believe that, just as in everything else, constant usage leads to a certain amount of contempt. I fear that familiarity, which breeds contempt, led to the present accident,” said the coroner, Mr. W. A. Harlow, at an inquest into the deaths of four people which occurred when a Percival Proctor aircraft crashed at the Invercargill airport on Sunday, June 5.

The victims of the crash were Neale Cook Sutherland, his wife Gwenda Margaret Ann Sutherland, David William Farquharson and Richard Ernest Mansfield, all of Dunedin. The coroner added that Sutherland was in sole control of the machine at the time of the accident. The machine was in sound condition. 

Unsafe Manoeuvre It attempted a manoeuvre that could not be undertaken safely at the speed and height which the machine had attained at the time. The machine was loaded in excess of the total authorised and, in any case, the manoeuvre attempted was not of the kind that was prudent for the type of aircraft. The coroner found that the victims died as a result of the multiple injuries they suffered in the crash and that in each case death was instantaneous.

Sergeant N. Kempt conducted the proceedings and Mr. C. N. B. French appeared for the Otago Aero Club, owner of the plane. 

William James Nesbit Macintosh, farmer, Quarry Hills, said he served throughout the last war as a fighter pilot. He knew Sutherland and his wife and drove them to the airport. Farquharson was waiting at the airport and Mansfield was starting up the motor of the plane to warm it. The motor was checked and the switches were tested. The plane took off at 11.30 a.m. with Sutherland as pilot. 

Witness shook hands with them all and was the last person to speak to them before they took off. Sutherland was at the controls with his wife on the front seat beside him. There was practically no wind. 

The plane took off normally from the front of the clubhouse in a westerly direction. The pilot held the plane low down above the ground until he had almost reached the western boundary of the aerodrome and then took it up in a gentle left-hand circle of the aerodrome. When he reached the south-east corner of the airfield at a height of about 700 ft. he put the plane into a gentle left-hand dive which brought it down past the front of the clubhouse, travelling in a westerly direction.

25-30 ft. From Ground When the plane passed in front of the Aero Club buildings it was about 25 to 30ft above the ground and was travelling at 160 to 170 miles an hour. The pilot held the plane right to the top of that zoom and levelled out in a gentle left-hand turn at what appeared to be a safe flying control speed above a stall. The pilot continued the left-hand turn, neither losing nor gaining height and the plane appeared to be picking up speed. When the plane was southwest of the clubhouse at a height of about 400 to 500 feet, and not less than 300 feet, it went into an almost vertical bank. From that position it stalled into a violent left-hand turn with the left wing down. 

With the motor apparently full on it appeared to witness that the pilot was struggling to get control of the machine. The plane straightened up from the violent left-hand turn with the left wing still low and the plane rapidly losing height. Just before the plane hit the ground it again made a violent left-hand turn which looked as if the pilot was trying to head the aircraft to the left of the wireless huts. The plane struck the ground with the left wing slightly down. 

During the time the plane was at the Invercargill airfield witness added that he noticed there might have been something not right about the starboard landing flaps. When this was mentioned to Sutherland he did not seem greatly concerned. In the opinion of witness a loose flap on the starboard wing could account for the plane going into a violent bank from a, gentle lefthand turn.

To Mr. French, witness said in his opinion Sutherland had sufficient speed to make a gentle turn but not a steep bank turn. If it was a voluntary turn Sutherland did not have sufficient speed to make it.

No Structural Failure Frederick Jones, garage proprietor, said he had been a member of the Southland Aero Club for 12 years. The weather was perfect for flying at the time. The accident, in his opinion, was not caused by any structural failure. 

Robert Middleton Poyneter, aircraft engineer employed by the Southland Aero Club, said the aircraft had no defects and was fit for flying. 

To Mr. French, witness said there was no sign of looseness in the wing flaps when he inspected the aircraft. A Percival Proctor was not intended for aerobatics and the steep bank turn similar to that described by other witnesses was not suitable for this type of aircraft.

Sergeant Kempt gave particulars from a report on the accident prepared by Mr. R. C. Kean, inspector of civil air accidents. The aircraft was not licensed for spinning, aerobatics or violent manoeuvres. The weight of the plane with its four passengers at the time of take-off was 3332 1b. and the authorised maximum weight for the plane was 3250 1b. Therefore, the plane was 82 1b. overloaded, but this was not sufficient to have caused the centre of gravity to move outside the prescribed limits.

The opinion formed from particulars gathered was that the aircraft lost flying speed in a voluntary left-hand turn and dived into the ground out of control from a height too low to permit recovery. There was no evidence of the failure of the aircraft or engine before the crash. The weather did not contribute to the accident. 

Recalled by the coroner, the witness Jones said in his opinion the final turn of the aircraft was not a safe manoeuvre at the speed at which it was flying and at the height attained.  -Gisborne Herald, 5/8/1949.

Andersons Bay Cemetery, Dunedin. DCC photo.



The Grave of Daivid William Farquharson, Andersons Bay Cemetery, Dunedin. DCC photo.