The West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954)(about) |
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Tuesday 28 January 1947
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AIR TRAGEDY. PRINCE GUSTAV AMONG 22 KILLED. GRACE MOORE DEAD OVERLOADING DENIED. LONDON, Jan. 27.-Prince Gus- tav Adolf of Sweden, eldest son of Crown Prince Gustav Adolf and grandson of the King of Sweden, and Miss Grace Moore, the famous American operatic singer, we. among the 16 passengers and crew of six who were killed when a Dutch K.L.M. Dakota airliner crashed [as reported in the second edition of "The West Australian" yesterday] shortly after taking off from Kastrup aerodrome, south of Copenhagen, yesterday. Prince Gustav's adjutant, Count Steen- bock, Miss Moore's accompanist, Louis Peltier, and a well-known Danish singer, Miss Gerda Nau- mann, were also killed. A K.L.M. communique says that soon after a normal take-off the airliner, which was bound for Stock- holm, began gaining altitude at a
normal rate. The nose then fell and the plane dived to the ground. All the occupants died instantly. Dr. A. Plesman, a director of K.L.M., in an interview in Amster-, dam, gave three reasons why allega- tions that the Dakota was over- loaded were probably unfounded. "Firstly," he said, "the plane, im- mediately after it took off, rose steeply, which it could not have done if it had been overloaded. Secondly, such an experienced pilot as G. J. Geysendorffer would never have allowed overloading, and thirdly, the presence of such an important passenger as Prince Gus- tav completely excluded taking any risk." A K.L.M. official said that the Dakota carried about 3,000lb. less than the allowable maximum weight and the crash, therefore, could not have been caused by overloading, says Reuters correspondent at The Hague. The theory is being investi- gated that there is some defect in the elevator control. Prince Gustav, who was aged 40 and a great-grandson of Queen Vic- toria, was returning to Stockholm after having spent several days as the guest of Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands. His wife, who was Princess Sybilla of Saxe-Coburg and
The Late GRACE MOORE.
Gotha, gave birth to a son Last April, ensuring the succession to the throne. Previously they had four daughters. Prince Gustave's remains have been taken to Sweden in a Swedish warship. Grace Moore, who was born in Jellicoe, Tennessee, in December, 1901, leapt to fame when given her first role in "La Boheme" by the Metropolitan Opera Co. of New York. Later she appeared in several musical films, including "One Night of Love," which was an outstanding success. Miss Moore, in her last interview published in a Copenhagen news- paper today, said: "It is wonderful to live and sing. I want to play in a new opera where the heroine doesn't die. It is wonderful to be alive, isn't it?" Accounts of Crash Differ. The weather was overcast and windy and the airfield was covered with snow, but visibility was good, when the airliner took off. The account of the crash given by the American Associated Press says that the aircraft, after taking off, banked, exploded and then crashed in flames, but the British United Press quotes an eye-witness as saying that one engine exploded as the Dakota struck the ground after falling 150 feet. The whole aircraft burst into flames and the heat kept back would-be rescuers. The Crown Princess Louise, Prince Gustav's stepmother and Viscount Mountbatten's sister, broke the news of her husband's death to Princess Sybilla. Special editions of the newspapers gave the news of the tragedy to Sweden. Places of entertainment closed and the radio broadcast a memorial programme. The plane's pilot was K.L.M.'s most experienced officer, G. J. Geysendorffer (54), who was the pilot of a plane which crashed at Allahabad in October, 1934. Five days later, when Geysendorffer took off again, the plane struck an air port vehicle, crashed again and was completely destroyed by fire. . Gey- sendorffer and his fellow pilot jumped out unharmed. Grace Moore's husband, Valentin Perera, was travelling with her on her European tour, but is indisposed in the south of France, where she recently visited him. Her next major engagement was in South Africa, where her visit would have coincided with the Royal tour. The well-known British accompanist, Ivor Newton, was to have accom- panied Miss Moore in Europe, but because of pressure of engagements cancelled the arrangement at the last minute. He said: "Few persons were so richly endowed as Grace Moore. She had wonderful looks, wonderful health and a glorious voice." Mr. Newton added that Miss Moore always carried a large collection of jewels and orders, which she wore at concerts. He wondered if they were destroyed in the fire.