Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), Thursday 2 December 1954, page 4


Pilot Fatally

Hurt In Crash

*

' The chief examiner of airmen for the

Department of Civil Aviation in N.S.W., Mr. Reginald C. Adsett, 35, was fatally injured in a plane crash yesterday.

The plane he was flying crashed at Narellan, near Camden. Its other two occu-pants were injured.

Mr. Adsett lived at Terry Street. Arncliffe, with his wife and their two small children.

Injured were Captain T. H. Dalton, 42, married, of Berley Street, Manly, aircraft company executive; and Mr. Adsett's assistant, Mr. R. H. Jarvis, 33, married, of Griffith Avenue, Bankstown.

Captain Dalton was admitted to Camden Hospital in a serious condition suffering from head injuries, lacerations to the face, and fractured right arm.

Mr. Jarvis was treated at the hospital for cuts to the face and severe shock, and allowed to. leave.

HIT POLE

The plane, a twin-engined Dove owned by the De Havilland Aircraft Company, was on a conversion flight.

It crashed in a paddock half a mile from Camden aerodrome where it had just taken off.

Eyewitnesses said that the plane never got above tree-top level before it hit a telegraph pole and nosed-dived into the paddock.

The port side wing was torn off and wreckage was strewn over a radius of 50 yards.

Jarvis who was sitting behind the pilot managed to climb through a door but was too dazed to assist the others.

Constable E. F. Fairlamb and other rescuers used an axe to reach the two men.

Captain Dalton refused assistance until Adsett was lifted out.

An ambulance took Adsett to Camden Hospital. He was unconscious and bleeding from a head wound. He died in hospital from his injuries.

The other two men were

taken to hospital in a utility.

Mr. Adsett joined the De-partment of Civil Aviation after the end of World War II and has been chief examiner of airmen for the department in N.S.W. for the past seven years.

During the war he served in the R.A.A.F. as a senior flying instructor, mainly at the Central Flying School, at

Camden and Parkes.

He held the rank of FlightLieutenant.

Before he left the R.A.A.F. Mr. Adsett was posted to the United States where he took a special course in instrument flying.

He was highly regarded as a pilot and had more than 6,000 flying hours logged.

TRIBUTE

The Minister for Civil Aviation, Mr. Athol Townley, said last night: "The death of Mr. Adsett is a grievous loss to the department.

"He was a young man of outstanding ability, and had a vast experience in aviation.

"He was acknowledged as an expert in his profession, and honoured and respected by all who knew him."

The De Havilland Dove, a modern executive-type aircraft, arrived in Australia from Great Britain only a few weeks ago.

Captain Dalton flew, the air-craft from England to Austra-lia.

Since then he had demon-strated it in various capital cities around Australia.

When the crash occurred

Captain Dalton was convert-ing Mr. Adsett on to the De Havilland Dove so that Mr. Adsett's pilot's licence could be endorsed to cover that type of aircraft.