AIRMEN’S POSITION AFTER DARK

Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 88, 12 January 1928, Page 10

AIRMEN’S POSITION AFTER DARK

PROBABLE FORCED DESCENT LANDING ARRANGEMENTS AT TRENTHAM The probability that the aviators were still in the air after dusk on Tuesday evening was scouted by those at Trentham having practical knowledge of flying. It was pointed out that, provided all had gone well with the airmen and that they had’ steered a reasonably straight course, the ’plane was due at Trentham between 7 o’clock and 7.30 p.m,; and the light was good enough to make, a safe landing up till 9 o’clock —possibly a little later. That the aviators planned to give themselves a good margin of daylight was shown by their choosing a time before dawn to start from Sydney. If for any reason they were delayed on their flight across the Tasman Sea to such an extent that they would not sight or reach any part of the New Zealand coast in time to “make” Trentham racecourse before it got too dark to land, their natural impulse as flying men would be to take advantage of the remaining, daylight and seek out a beach or suitable spot on which to alight. Knowing the difficult broken configuration of the land in the neighbourhood of Wellington and Cook Strait it does not seem credible that they would carry on their flight until it was too dark to make a landing . anywhere. Their only alternatives would be to come down in the sea as near the shore as possible, or to “crash” as gently as possible. A ‘crash” landing involves possibilities of grave injury to the men and their machine. Night Landing Arrangements. In certain quarters there has been criticism of the arrangements for an after-dark landing at Trentham, that is not justified ;by the facts. Major Wilkes, Director of Civil • Aviation, who was in charge, had with commendable foresight provided for this possibility. His staff had prepared a large number of petrol flares which were in readiness long before the aviators were due. 'Darkness came on soon after 9 o’clock, but nothing had been heard from the ’plane since the last automatic signal was received at 5.22 p.m. It was not until well after 10 p.m. that the first report—that from the lightkeeper at Stephen Island—that an aeroplane had been sighted was. received at Trentham. This was immediately followed by the .Foxton and Paekakariki reports, and Major Wilkes went to infinite trouble to- try to secure some confirmation or amplification of the reports in order to have something definite to work upon. Major Wilkes was assisted in every way possible by Mr. A. McNicol,. Mr. McDonald, and others, and the telephone was worked almost continuously in the quest for news.

In the meantime a small bonfire had been .lighted, and the headlights of the assembled, motor-cars' which were ranged in a curve were turned full on. The question of lighting the petrol . flares would not arise until some definite word of the aeroplane' and its approach to the landing “field ' was rebeived. To have lighted them immediately after dark would have served no good purpose until it was known that the ’plane was close at hand. As it happened, they would have had to be kept burning for hours, since it was after 3 o’clock yesterday morning before hope of tfle arrival of the ’plane was abandoned. . Engine Trouble? Assuming that the airmen had trouble with their engine on the way across, and had to come down into the sea at, or soon after, 5.22 p.m., when the last automatic signal was received, there can only be conjecture as to what went amiss. It is interesting to recall that Hawker and Grieve on their trans-Atlantic flight in May, 1919, were 14| hours out from Newfoundland when they descended on to the sea after sighting a' steamer which picked them up and landed them at Scotland a week later. Their engine ran perfectly even when all the water in the radiator had boiled away. It . was a stoppage of circulation owing to a; blockage in the water-pipe between the radiator and the water pump that' caused the trouble. They could not have gone much further, and when they sjghted p ship they alighted near to her and were picked up. WEST COAST LOOK-OUT ORDERED At 12.45 p.m. the Post and Tele■graph Department instructed offices at the coastal towns on the west coast-of both islands to post notices and circulate-requests that a lookout be kept in case the missing aviators have, landed at any isolat•ed part of the west coast of the Dominion.