New Britain herald., 1930-07-07
Major Wynne EytOn Crashes When Motor Stalls Twice - Farmer and Mechanics Barely Rescue Him Before the Craft Blows Up.

St. Johns. x. F.. July ' JP)- The courage and agility Of a New toundland farmer and two me- chanics were credited today with saving Ma1or (. :, Wynne- Elton from death n his burning plane as he was leaving for Harhor Grace to begin a transatlantic flight 10 Lon- don.
 While several hundred other spec tators fled from the local airport when they saw Major WNnne- -Eyton' s DeHaviland plane dive heavily to the ground after the takeotf yesterday, the three men ran TO the wreckage and pulled the unconscious English aviator from the pilots seat less than a minute before the plane blew up and burned
 Aviator Somewhat Hurt
 The major already was injured when his rescuers reached him, however, and today he lay in Grace hospital suffering from q bad cut on the upper lip, which required eight stitches, q cut on 7he inside of the lower lip. several broken teeth. and shock.
 His condition was not considered serious by physicians nho examined him,
 Major Wynna-Ey-on was grief stricken over the end Of hIs pro- posed flight before 1t had even started Despite messages from the DeHavlland company. for whom he was fylng the plane. telling him not to vorry. he was disappointed that his frst accident in 12 years Of flying should have occurred at this time, and hurt that the plane was destroyed
 What an ending" he said Of the transatlantic flight when his me- chanic informed him Of the de tails of the accident during his first lucid moment. T wish they had let me burn with the plane"
 Find Man Unconscious
 George Symonds. 55-year-old farmer, James Davis. A., and Dan Reardon c5. mechanics. were The men who saved him from that fate. They reached the wrecked plane al- most immediately after it had struck the ground and found the major, unconscious. leaning forward in the cockpit
 His head vas bent towards the left. against the instrument board, and blood was streaming down his face and clothes Little tongues Of fire already were leaping up around his feet and over the top of the en- zine.
 The men worked quickly to un- tangle him from the cramped quar- ters. Drawing his shoulders through the narrow opening on the left, the resCuers fouud the majors feet were entangled among the levers and controls. and although the opening was scarcely large enough for one man. Davis vriggled beside the un- conscious form and released the leg,
 The three then drew the major from the plane. and had carried him scarcely 20 feet when the engine eX- ploded and the entire machine was enveloped in flames. A rescue minute later would have been i'm possible
 Rises After Short Run
 4 west wind was blowing lightly when Major Wvnne- -Eyton taxied his plane from the west end of the field to the east and warned t up for 15 minutes. Then he roared down the runway for 1,0o0 feet to- wards the west, and rose gracefully into the air,
 The plane had ascended scarcely 3o feet, however. when ir appeared 10 stall twice, and then plunged nose-frs into the field The pro- peller and right wing were smashed. and the covering stripped from the engine.
 Mechanic Shaw attributed the ac- c!dent 10 the fact that the tail wheels did not disconnect from the tail properly but went into the air part way with the plane When they finally dropped of, he said, the plane was thrown off it's balance.
 Other mechanics and observers on the field agreed that may have con- tributed 10 the accident, but many of them believed the stalling engine vas the chief cause.