ANXIETY GROWING FOR H. F. BROADBENT.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIX, Issue 65, 18 March 1938, Page 8

ANXIETY GROWING FOR H. F. BROADBENT.

MISSING FLYER. Last Seen Before Dawn Yesterday. SEARCH IN PROGRESS. fnrtPil Association.—Copyright. (Received 11.30 a.m.) SYDNEY, this day. Anxiety is growing for the safety of Mr. H. F. Broadbent, the Australian airman, who failed to arrive at Darwin yesterday morning as expected.

He was last seen over Endeh Island, about 400 miles from Koepang, before dawn yesterday. It is believed possible that he may have landed on some isolated spot on the West Australian coast. Dutch Air Force 'planes have begun a search for him. A message from Batavia, Java, says the airmail passed Kambang at 9.15 p.m. (local time) on Wednesday night. The chief of the civil aviation office at Batavia has called all stations east of Rambang asking them if they have anything to report. A message from Sourabaya, Batavia, states that two naval 'planes left this morning to search for Broadbent. Mr. Broadbent left England last Saturday in a Percival Vega Gull 'plane in an effort to beat Miss Jean Batten's England-Australia solo record of 5 days 21 hours 3 minutes. GOOD PROGRESS. Clouston Leaves Singapore For Darwin. BAD WEATHER EARLIER. (Received 12 noon.) SINGAPORE, this day. The New Zealand airman, Flying- j Officer A. E. Clouston, who took off from Gravesend at 8.20 on Tuesday night in the repaired Comet aeroplane in a new attempt to break the record between Britain and New Zealand, landed at Allahabad at 3.20 a.m. yesterday, his speed between Karachi and Allahabad b*ing 218 miles an hour. He took off from Allahabad at 5.20 a.m., Greenwich mean time, for Singapore. He made a landing at Penang, however, at 3.05 p.m. yesterday (Greenwich mean time) as he feared a shortage of petrol, and the weather being bad. He rested for several hours before leaving for Singapore at 5.45 p.m. He arrived at Singapore at 7.54 p.m.! and left again for Darwin at 8.48 p.m. yesterday. SPEEDING UP. Imperial Airways' Services Over Trunk Routes. V.Z. "GROUND" STAFF PRAISED. (Received 10.30 a.m.) LONDON, March 17. Imperial Airways announce a big speed-up of services over 20,000 miles of trunk routes. The new schedule for the Australian service, which begins on April 5, provides for a service of 7 days 2 hours from Southampton to Darwin. A tribute to New Zealand and Australian "ground" crews was paid by Imperial Airways after the completion of the overhaul of the Centaurus, following her 32,000 miles flight to New Zealand. The Centaurus suffered not the slightest damage to her engines, which were in excellent condition. The load of spare parts was practically untouched.

"It is a fine tribute to the ground service staffs who handled a large and strange craft, particularly those in New Zealand and Australia," said an official.