Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. THURSDAY, JANUARY 12, 1928. THE MISSING AVIATORS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 48, Issue 78, 12 January 1928, Page 4

Ashburton Guardian Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. THURSDAY, JANUARY 12, 1928. THE MISSING AVIATORS.

Though hope for the safety of Lieutenant Moncrieff and Captain Hood dies hard it is only too apparent that the first attempt to fly across the Tasman Sea has had a tragic ending. With the first reports of the sighting of the monoplane, now proved to be groundless, it is probable that the manner of the fate of the two intrepid airmen may remain one of those mysteries that crowd the pages of heroic endeavour of every age and in every country. Be this as it may, there is in the Dominion to-day only one sentiment that of mingled admiration and regret—admiration of the -two young men who set forth on a pioneer journey that has been so long discussed, and regret that their lives were given. The tragedy has added poignancy from the fact that the adventure was not by any means in the nature of a "stunt." It was embarked upon with the laudable ambition of achieving the honour of being the first to accomplish what in the fulness of time will become an accepted routine of modern travel. True there was some difference as to the suitability of the machine in which the essay was made, and the event proves that the objections were based on good grounds. But the quiet confidence with which the aviators accepted the risk robs their action of any suspicion of mere bravado. At the moment this aspect may be dismissed with the thought that as all human progress is the result of experience the investigations that are sure to be made will enable succeeding flights to be made under conditions more favourable to success. The crossing of the Tasman by air was mooted long ago, before the development of aircraft resulted in the achievement of trans-Atlantic flight, but there were many factors that rendered it impossible. Now, however the stage has been reached when the venture must be considered as within range of air endeavour. The first crossing between the Commonwealth and the Dominion presents several aspects. It is the last long jump on the Imperial airways from the Homeland to her Dominions, and one of the most difficult of all these air connections;, the completion of the flights of the Smith brothers and Sir Alan Cobham; it is a means to the further impression on the public mind of the increasing safety and ultimate certainty of o'eneral travel by air; a* means to awaken New Zealand to the necessity of a defence system adequate to the conditions that must come with the steady development of aircraft and air navigation ; a pioneer exploration of air routes from which lessons of the greatest importance may be learned and passed on. With the development now going on in the world of aviation, it may be that Tasman will be crossed ere long. These considerations, however, do not abate one iota the admiration and regret with which the people of the Dominion regard Lieutenant Moncrieff and Captain Hood, nor lessen the sympathy extended to their near and dear ones whose period of anxious anticipation, which at one time appeared about to resolve itself into happy reunion, finally changed into desolation and bereavement.