COURAGE AND DETERMINATION SUCCEED

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22819, 14 December 1948, Page 4

COURAGE AND DETERMINATION SUCCEED

JSJ'O time should be lost in paying a tribute to the courage and determination of the ground parties avlio in exceedingly difficult circumstances recovered the bodies of the three airmen from the Avreckage of their Oxford trainer aircraft in the rugged Ruahine Ranges. On an inhospitable, bush-clad mountainside studded Avith deep ravines and with many tortuous climbs, a HaAvke’s Bay party Avas beaten by sheer exhaustion, but other parties organised by the Palmerston North police succeeded. These parties consisted of policemen, airmen, Army radio experts, bushmen and experienced trampers, and their courage was matched by that of the creAvs of loAv-flying aircraft Avhose supply drops made the mission possible. To these men and to others who assisted the thanks of citizens, especially the relatives of the deceased, will be warmly extended. There are feAV Avho have not been deeply touched by this tragedy and the search and recovery efforts of the past fortnight. The record of air safety in the Dominion is perhaps unsurpassed anyAvhere in the Avorld, and this is magnified by the fact that NeAV Zealand is one of the most difficult countries to fly over. To the many people Avho have now journeyed by aircraft this Avill be readily understood, for most of the Dominion, particularly the North Island, has a rugged terrain lacking large areas of plain or tableland. The general picture is one of precipitous mountains — bush or scrub-clad or eroded —and deep valleys. At no point is the sea very, far distant.

Our record of safety is to be attributed to the skill of our aircrews and the competence of the ground staffs Avho maintain aircraft and provide ancillary services. Since the end of the Avar there has been a great decrease in service flying, but civil aviation has been expanded considerably.

One benefit that has been passed on hv the -wartime organisation is the air-sea rescue service. Towards the end of 1942 the three R.N.Z.A.F. groups with headquarters at Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch each established a comprehensive air-sea rescue organisation which was dovetailed to cover the whole of New Zealand and co-ordinated with the Observer Corps. The result was the creation of hundreds of observation points to report aircraft movements. Along the coast boat owners, mainly fishermen, were organised to give prompt aid in the event of an emergency. The services of many of these men are still available and can be summoned without delay. Inland, too, through the police, tramping and mountaineering clubs, and the amateur radio transmitters’ organisation, search parties can be assembled and dispatched very soon after the lost plane procedure is put into effect. In addition, the R.N.Z.A.F. has Catalina and Hudson aircraft equipped with rescue equipment standing by for almost immediate take off. This large organisation, seen only in an emergency, is behind service and civil aviation in New Zealand. The appropriate parts of it have been in operation in the past fortnight, and it has again earned deep public gratitude.