Transcribed report

				
The Secretary.-
Department of National Defence for Air.
? Ont.

Crane 1A - FJ 214

1.                            With reference to our telegram
? , the following ? report is submitted:

2.                                 At 1800 hours 8.7.42, Pilot
Officer R.W. Small ? Flying Instructor, took L.A.C.
Burrowes, a student pilot, in Crane 1A - FJ214 to give aerial in-
struction on sequences ?.?.? and single-engine flying. After
carrying out three circuits and landings, Pilot Officer Small took
off again and headed in a northerly direction for the purpose of 
practicing single-engine flying. At 1855 hours, the student was 
instructed to head the aircraft for Saskatoon. The aircraft was
at 5.000'indicated and headed for a small patch of alto-stratus 
which the student was instructed to fly through in order to get
back to the aerodrome as quickly as possible.

3.                                In approximately a minute the
aircraft was caught in a low cumulus-nimbus cloud and began as-
cending rapidly approximately 2.000' per minute and was tossed
violently? about.  The instructor took over control and ?
? to bring the aircraft out of the cloud. However the air-
craft got out of control and went into a spiral dive at 250 m.p.h.
indicated airspeed. At 5,000' the Instructor ordered the student
to bail out, which he did after the Instructor had managed to bring
the aircraft out of the dive. Pilot Officer Small then 
endeavoured  to bring the aircraft out of the cloud again and to
fly it back. However, he lost control again at 7,000' and it
went into a spiral dive to the left at approximately 250 m.p.h
once more. The Instructor endeavoured  to apply aileron, but
found the controls locked or jammed. At approximately 5,000'
the instructor abandoned the aircraft by parachute. After
having fallen? some distance, he observed the aircraft passing 
him in a spiral dive towards the ground. It then passed out of
sight and crashed in the vicinity of Warman.

4.                               Both Instructor and pupil were
uninjured in their descent and subsequent landing and were at
present back flying once more.


5.                                  The storm mentioned in the
above report struck the Saskatoon area with great suddenness
at approximately 1855 hours on the night of 8.7.42. It came
in from the East? and in addition to electrical disturbances, was
accompanied by rain , blowing dust, and extremely violent winds.
It would appear that Pilot Officer Small, the pilot of Crane 1A
FJ214 was drawn into the centre of a thunderhead of dangerous
proportions and that had not he and his student abandoned the
aircraft, that they would have been killed either from the fact
that the aircraft was going down out of control, or may possibly
have disintegrated in the air from the buffeting it received in
the extremely rough air.

                                 (L.A. Harling ) Squadron Leader
                                  Commanding No 4 SFTS RCAF
                                  Saskatoon, Sask.