AVIATION

Evening Star, Issue 21036, 25 February 1932, Page 9

AVIATION

HAMILTON AND GOUPLAND EXPERIENCES RELATED Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright. ROME, February 23. At Ruvo Di Puglia Hamilton and Coupland, whose lives were saved by’a snowdrift, are now, as a precautionary measure, in bed. They have received many callers. Hamilton,, who was sitting up cheerfully smoking, said: “ After leaving Rome we climbed to 10,000 feet to clear B,oooft hills. Snow clouds obscured our view, but the forecast predicted fine weather shortly, and so we kept on, but wore still befogged after 160 minutes, so we concluded that we were over plains. We shared the piloting. A snowstorm at 4,000 feet made everything invisible. We tried to descend and crashed between Altamura and Corato.”

Coupland added that he found Hamilton senseless, with cuts on his face. The machine was embedded deep in a snowdrift, the undercarriage being lost and the propeller broken. He explored and found a deserted hut two miles away. He then returned to the machine, but fainted. Hamilton recovered at dawn, and both shouted and attracted the attention of peasants They walked to a farm, but the snow was so deep that the journey of twenty miles to Ruvo took eight hours. “We are preparing a fresh flight to reach London,’’ said Hamilton.