THEORY OF DISASTER

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 149, 20 December 1929, Page 11

THEORY OF DISASTER

FLEW TOO FAR EAST

LOST WAY IN DARKNESS

United Press Association—By Electric Tele« graph—Copyright. LONDON, 18th December. Messages from Tunis state that tha Pairey monoplane in which Squadron* Leader Jones-Williams and PlightLieutenant Jenkins were attempting v long-distance flight to the Cape, crash, ed in a storm in the mountainous region of Zaghouan, southward of Tunis, Arabs discovered the airmen's bodies beneath the wreckage. Troops hurried to the scene and will bring the bodies to Tunis to-morrow. No signal had been received from tho big_ 'plane's wireless since passing Sardinia at 4 o'clock on Tuesday. It was thought possible that the Fairey waa out of range of home stations, and there was' no reason to believe that a disaster had occurred. After twentyfour hours' waiting, however, forebodings were aroused and confirmed at 11 o'clock by a message reporting a crash, "The Times" aeronautical correspondent suggests that the airmen had flown too far east to avoid the main! Atlas range and reached Zaghouanj spur, where the range averages 400U feet, and which they must get round to set a course for Cape Town. Between sunset and the moon rise, flying low to try to fix their position, they struck the mountain in the darkness, wheu in a few minutes the worst risks would have been over.