Couple feared missing

Press, 22 June 1981, Page 6

Couple feared missing

.PA Invercargill - • ' ' An Invercargill man arid his financee are ■ missing somewhere' in the north Pacific Ocean after sending out a Mayday call and ditching their aircraft hear Honolulu on Saturday. Mr Robert Palmer, an air .traffic controller employed by the Ministry of Transport in Invercargill and a former New Zealand ski-ing champion, was delivering an Aero Starr 600 aircraft to San Diego in the United States. A Mayday call .was - received by the Federal Aviation Authority's centre at Hawaii at about 9.30 p.m. New Zealand time on Saturday.

f .The centre's supervisor, - , Mr, K.,_ Nomura, told the 1 , "Southland Times” yesterday 5 that information had been t received that Mr Palmer's j twin-engined aircraft was - out of fuel and hp was -; ditching it. His position was about 160 km from Honolulu, i his intermediate destination. 1 An American Coast Guard t party was sent out immedi- - ately to search the area but - no trace of Mr Palmer or his ) aircraft had. been .sighted on i Saturday, night. It is believed that Mr ; Palmer,; aged about 33. was I accompanied by his financee, : Miss Friedl Bohmer. a Ger- . man girL whom he had met ■ in New Zealand while she was on a working holiday.

-, They were believed to be e going -on to Germany, after y delivering the. aircraft, to i meet her parents. s Mr Palmer was to. bring s back a single-engined air-, s craft, a Cessna 182. s The estimated time* of ar- ,. rival at San Diego. was on . Tuesday morning. He left I Auckland on Thursday. A freelance pilot, Mr t Palmer was experienced, 5 having clocked up more than i 6000 hours.' He had made several trips between the - United States and New Zea- >■ land. - , Late last evening Mr Nomura said.no trace of Mr t •Palmer or his aircraft had > been sighted and the search . had- been called off.