ITALIAN ’PLANE CRASH

Greymouth Evening Star, 9 August 1935, Page 7

ITALIAN ’PLANE CRASH

SEVEN LIVES LOST MINISTER AND MILLIONAIRE [BY CABLE—PRESS ASSN. —COPYBIGHT, j (Recd. Aug. 9, 11.30 a.m.). CAIRO, August S.

The Italian plane with a crew of four, in which Captain Luigi Razza, Minister of Public Works, was flying to Eritrea, on a visit of inspection, accompanied by his secretary and Raimondo Franchetti, a well-known explorer, which was reported missing yesterday, was discovered wrecked in the desert, twelve miles west of Heliopolis.

All the occupants were dead. —LATER

British planes found the Italian machine embedded in sand. Obviously it nose-dived from a great height. Franchetti was the richest man in Italy. He owned vast estates and was engaged by Razza as geographical adviser. . Razza was one of the founders of Fascism, and was among the leaders in the march on Rome.

LATEST ZEPPELIN

(Recd. Aug. 9, 10 a.m.). LONDON, August 8.

The Australian Press Special Correspondent interviewed Commander Eckner at Friedrichshafen, concerning Zeppelin LZ 129, which, at his suggestion is being named the Hindenburg. Eckner said he expected that it would be completed by the middle of November, and would commence trans-Atlantic voyages early in the new year. It would have a range of ten thousand miles, at a cruising speed without refuelling. Eckner intends the Hindenburg to fly to Batavia, in which case e an opportunity might be found to continue to Sydney and return to Batavia without refuelling.

The Zeppelin’s refinements include a smokeroom, writing room, and shower bath, the latter with a .gadget to prevent anyone of the fifty passengers bathing more than ten minutes.

Eckner does not expect during his lifetime to see aeroplanes carrying substantial loads of mails and passengers across the Atlantic.' Meanwhile, the old Graf Zeppelin continues regular crossings. The veteran will personally command the Hindenburg’s early flights. Ten days will be required to inflate the gasbags, as the Friedrichshafen gasholder contains only onetenth of her gas capacity. There is a constant stream of visitors at sixpence a head, helping to meet the construction costs.

ENGLAND-CAPE RECORD RUGBY, August 8. Campbell Black left Hatfield aerodrome at 5.30 p.m., in the Comet machine Boomerang, in an attempt to create a new record for a flight to Cape Town. He was accompanied by James McArthur. POST IN ALASKA. JUNEAU, August 7. Wiley Post and Will Rogers, the humourist, have landed at Juneau after a flight from Seattle. They are on a vacation trip. Post is still evasive .regarding his future plans, which originally included a flight to Moscow. EMPIRE MAILS. KARACHI, August 8. Imperial Airways announce the duplication of air mail between Calcutta and Singapore from October 1. “The Times’s” Aeronautical Correspondent expressed the opinion that the announcement means Quantas are ready simultaneously to duplicate the service. Singapore-Darwin, enabling a bi-weekly English Australian mail service. ARMSTRONG SEARCH. WAIPUKURAU, August 9. There is no further news of the missing airman. The weather is ideal for search operations, the Ruahines being only lightly snow-capped.