Perho local heritage museum

Sahintie 1 Perho

The Perho local heritage museum, originally a granary, is located next to the church of Perho, which dates from the early 1900s. The granary building was constructed in 1858, and it became a museum for old peasant culture in 1963. Here you can also see pieces of the airscrew and float of an airplane called Kurki, which was involved in a tragic accident in June 1930. The memorial of the accident is located on the accident site by Lake Jylhänjärvi.

Stories

Just before Midsummer, on 22 June 1930, an air show ordered by the Perho White Guard was arranged near Lake Jylhänjärvi, in the village of Möttönen of Perho. The idea was to provide flights for the public after the show. The light aircraft Kurki came from Vaasa. It was piloted by an instructor with the military rank of lieutenant from the Kauhava flight school. At the beginning of the show, the pilot delighted the audience with his skilled aerial manoeuvres. During the second show, however, the plane started to splutter and stalled as it flew above the public. The pilot tried to steer the plane towards the lake, but the floats hit the roof of a drying barn and the plane crashed into the people who were standing on the shore. Two women died immediately and nine other people were injured. (Itsenäisyyden heijastumia – tuhat tarinaa Keski-Pohjanmaalta)

The stories about the accident tell how terrified people on the shore were and that the pilot had to escape from the site since some men threatened to kill him. There was chaos and panic on the shore. The crash is said to have thrown one of the injured people into the lake, where this person nearly drowned. (HK 1982)

The official explanation of why the engine of Kurki stalled was that its fuel hose had got blocked. The partly broken airplane was later disassembled on the crash site and finally brought to Helsinki for repair. It remained in use until 1950. In 1954 it was burned in the bonfire of a Midsummer festival. The pilot, who had later been promoted to captain, lost his life in air combat in 1940 when his plane crashed on the ice of Lake Ladoga. (Itsenäisyyden heijastumia – tuhat tarinaa Keski-Pohjanmaalta & HK 1982)

Photos

Perho local heritage museum

Remnants of a crashed aeroplane in the Perho local heritage museum

Information on the tragic accident

Information on the tragic accident  (Itsenäisyyden heijastumia – tuhat tarinaa Keski-Pohjanmaalta)

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