STILL IN DOMINION

Greymouth Evening Star, 20 April 1946, Page 3

STILL IN DOMINION

AIR PASSENGERS FOR SYDNEY SECOND PLANE TURNS- BACK (P.A.) AUCKLAND/April 19. Dogged by misfortune, Sydneybound passengers by the Royal New Zealand Air Force Dakota aircraft are still in Auckland, awaiting tomorrow’s news of the weather prospects across the Tasman. The illluck which forced the Dakota with 16 passengers under Flight Lieutenant N. Gardiner to limp back to Whenuapai on one engine on' Wednesday, after covering 450 miles of the iis-_ tance to Sydney continued on Thurs-’’ day, when a second Dakota, captained by Flight Lieutenant G. R. Coates, and with 14 of the original passengers, had to return because of unfavourable weather in Australia.

Substantially the same passengers were taken to Whenuapai this morning, but a route forecast showing unsuitable flying weather over Sydney kept the Dakota on the ground, and they were driven back, to the city. If the weather clears the Dakota will leave Whenaupai to-mor-row morning for Sydney under Flight Lieutenant Coates. . Already 15 Hours in Air

The original passengers are in the position of being still at the starting point after 15 hours’ flying. Tomorrow’s passengers will include only 11 of those who shared the experiences of Wednesday and Thursday. The second Dakota left Whenuapai at 7.30 o’clock on Thursday morning. It was nearly four hours out, when at 11.20 o’clock Sydney reported such a deterioration in the weather as to make it undesirable for the flight to be continued. The Dakota was approaching the point, of no return, but it was decided to recall her rather than to send her into weather known to be unfavourable, and she therefore turned about and headed back to Whenuapai, landing there at 3.12 o’clock in the afternoon. Unusual Happening

| “The first time we were forced to I return owing to one engine unfortunately failing, which is something that very seldom happens on a Dakota,” said Air Commodore A. de T. Nevill, Vice-Chief of the Air Staff. “The second time was due to bad weather. The information was received in the air, and in a case like this the decision to continue or return is left to some extent to the pilot, dependant on the distance from the point of destination and from the starting point. In the circumstances the pilot did the wise thing in returning to Whenuapai.” Unshaken by her experience of the previous day, when she arrived back in Auckland with only her handbag and the clothes she stood in, 70-year-. old Mrs A. Oxenford, of Rose Bay, Sydney, accepted her second unsuccessful attempt to get home on Thursday cheerfully, and was more determined than ever to fly to Aus- . tralia. She was still keen to-day, and praised the R.N.Z.A.F. for the manner in which it had handled everything. It was a blow to her having to jet- . tison her luggage on Wednesday, and j it was not insured.