LORD SEMPILL'S PLANE

Evening Post, Issue 86, 8 October 1936, Page 9

LORD SEMPILL'S PLANE

APPARENTLY FORCED

DOWN

CALLS FROM TIMOR

United Press Association—By Electric Telegraph—Copyright. (Received October 8, 10.30 a.m.)] DARWIN, This Day. , It is feared that Lord Sempill's Monospar aeroplane, piloted by Mr. H. Wood, has been forced down on Timor Island, and the Government patrol boat Larrakia has been dispatched in search. The machine took off yesterday ■ from Darwin at 4.50 a.m. local time, 1 and the radio directional station at : Darwin heard a weak signal from the aeroplane when it was about 70 miles ' from the coast of Koepang. After fourteen hours of anxiety, feeble SOS . messages were received between 9 and . 10 o'clock last night (Darwin time). , So faint were the messages that it was ] difficult to make anything of them [ except that they were SOS signals. A bearing taken on the directional wire- , less apparatus at the Royal Australian '. Air Force Station at Darwin gave their .- position as on Timor Island, about 60 ,or 70 miles from Koepang. It is as- . sumed that the aeroplane was sending messages from the beach and that ■ the crew were generating power by ■ hand % The word "batteries" wa3 [ heard in one message, and it is be- , lieyed that the aeroplane's batteries [ are failing. Weak messages were still ! being received at midnight. MAIL AEROPLANE'S REPORT. A Qantas mailplane with British mails left Koepang at 12.45 p.m. for Dar. win and wirelessed that it saw no sign of the aeroplane over the Timor Sea, A Singapore message stated that thai aeroplane was five hours overdue at Koepang and was last seen 450 mile* from Darwin. • The pilot, Mr. Wood, is accompanied by the designer of the aeroplane, Mr« F. F. Crocombe, an engineer, Mr. L, Davies, and the radio operator; Mr. C, P. Gilroy. The machine left Darwin with a load of 11,300 pounds, chiefly, petrol and spare parts. Mr. Wood planned, to reach Singa« . pore, 2347 miles from Darwin, yesterday. Before he took off he intimated that he intended to have breakfast at Koepang at about 7.30. i Timor Island, in the Malay Archil . pelago, lies about 500 miles north-easl sof Darwin. It is traversed by mounI tains. The population is composed oi [ three native groups, and in the ports are Malays, Bughis, Chinese, some . Dutch, and the mixed race called , "black Portuguese." Koepang, near ■ the southern end of the island, is the [ capital of the Dutch part. The island . is about 340 miles long.