MISSING BELGIAN AIRLINER

Press, Volume LXXXII, Issue 24985, 20 September 1946, Page 7

MISSING BELGIAN AIRLINER

Parties Unable To Locate Wreckage 44 PERSONS ON BOARD

(Bee. 10 pjn.) NEW YORK, Sept. 18. < Search parties, including Army parachutists, have so far been unable in the fog to locate the wreckage sighted in Newfoundland from the air and believed possibly to be the Belgian Sabena airliner which is missing on a flight from Brussels to New York. A flying-boat searching for the aeroplane to-day sighted three wrecks, one apparently new, but poor visibility prevented satisfactory examination from the air or a landing on the lake in the area

The crew of the search aeroplane laid that no sign of life was seen near any of the three wrecks. Sabena air line officials hold out hope that the aeroplane may have made a safe emergency landing in Newfoundland or Labrador. If their hopes are unfounded and all the 44 occupants lost, it will be among the worst commercial aviation- disasters in history.

Airport, officials say that the pilot of the airliner was heard reporting by radio at 447 am. that he was approaching the field at 2000 feet and expected to land within four minutes. pie airliner, carrying 37 passengers ind a crew pf seven, was earlier reported about 12 hours overdue in Newfoundland from Europe, and the Coast Guard reported that aircraft wreckage lad been sighted north-east of Gander, Newfoundland. The aircraft is a SkyTt • e £t s ? annon ’ Eire, late on Tuesday night. It was over Gander early this morning. Captain Richard Merrill, piloting an American airliner from Paris to New York, said that his take-off from Gan“_er delayed 40 minutes because the Belgian aircraft was making radio contact with the Gander tower. V A , K.L.M. aircraft arrived in New York from Amsterdam by by-passing Gander, because of rough weather.