NO TRACE OF MISSING AIRMEN

Grey River Argus, 13 January 1928, Page 5

NO TRACE OF MISSING AIRMEN

SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN UNDER TAKEN. KEITH SMITH’S COMMENT. MELBOURNE, January 12. Sir Keith Smith, referring to the flight, expressed himself as more than ever convinced that such a flight k fJoul«> not have been undertaken ex|Meept in an amphibean machine. lie that although it was an all-metal ▼ it docs not necessarily mean would sink Towards the end of the flight the petrol tanks would be at least three-quarters empty, and that would mean considerable buoyancy. There was a possibility (hat the machine inav still be found floating.

Mysterious Signals. HEARD BY CHRISTCHURCH KAMO AMATEURS. CHRISTCHURCH, January 11 Unusual wireless signals on the wave length used by the AoTe-Ar.u were heard by two Christchurch radio amateurs last evening, long after the last official report of the plane’s signals. Listening for other amateur signals, on abcut 33 metres, the two amateurs heard the generator hum, varying in pitch, the signals lasting for about 20 seconds, followed first by a pause, then by more signals of a similar length, slow Morse signals reading “Eero,” then hard, followed by some other letters which were not intelligible. “Is sticking, is sticking ” was repeated several times then, lis tinctly read by both listeners. They decided, however, that it was too late for there to be any possibility of the , aeroplane still being in the air, ami did not communicate their news i > anyone last night, consid°ring it' pro bable that the message:' were sent lr, some commercial station, whose automatic sender had stuck, the op (, ra-| tor sending a message to that olivet I by hand. Both airmen wire able io tian.Mnit’ Morse, tin,ugh no! well. The Girl thntj some letters were unintelligible seems I to point to the fart it was not a roii:-« mercial station in operation, while it is of a course a slender thread upon which to hang hopes, there is nevertheless a distinct possibility that a message did come from the plane, that some part of the engine, such as tho valve, was sticking.

“11l Prepared?” COATES’S STATEMENT. REFUTED BY McNTCIIOL. WELLINGTON, January 12. Replying to a statement reported ‘o have been made by Mr Coates at Whangarci, to the effect, he had informed the aviators that he considered their plans were ill prepared, Mr McNicol, one of the trusties of the Tasman Flight Fund, said he had no d’sire to involve Mr Coates in any public controversy, as he quite appreciated his good spirit towards the men and his desire for their safety. Mr McNicol says, however, it is somewhat unfair to the aviators and those most closely cimn«-cte<l with »b. • venture to state their plans were ill prepared. To hi- certain knowledge, the only conversation held by M» Coates with the aviators was a few minutes before they sailed for Sydney. Mr Coates did not discus.- the plans of the expedition with the a viators, or certainlv not to such an extent as

justified his statement. Il «\aij only fair to Mr Coates to say that he never personally approved of the flight, nor was the Government officially connect-1 ed with it in any way. The question has been raised whether the Government had done sufficient to assist the men to find the shores of New Zealand. At Hie outset, the Government had been asked to lend the assistance of their Departments in connection with certain features )f the flight, and this had been done. The Australian authorities had also given assistance. The Government had been asked to have a warship patrolling the coast, and promised this would be done if a ship were available. Unfortunately, the date of the flight did not fit in with the movements of tho fleet. The promotes are sorry that the country should bo put to the expense of the search now taking place, but the trustees were of opinion that a great deal of the money might have been saved had two aeroplanes been sent out to scout the and show the men the way into the country.

ANOTHER PLANE REQUISITIONED. WELLINGTON, January 11. The Minister of Defence has ordered another aeroplane to leave Christchurch, come to Trcntham, and searen the surrounding country. A report from the tug T.oia at 8.35 a.m. states that she was 39 deg 38 min south,, 173 deg 45 min east. The jyind

. OBSERVERS’ STORIES SUBSTANTIATED. PARTIES ORGANISED TO SEARCH RANGES. Coast Patrolled by ’Planes and Cruisers.

was east and fresh, and moderate sea., The visibility was good, hut nothing was sighted. CAPT FINDLAY ARRIVES AT TRENTHAM. < ’ll I'ISTCHURCTI. January 12. Captain Findlay, in DT1.50 survey machine, left the 'Wigram aerodrome at (deven o’clock for Trentliam, arriving there about 1.30. After refuelling, l he will begin a search on the West' Coast of the North Island. .

Buckley’s Search. BLENHEIM AS BASE. BLENHEIM, January 12. Captain Buckley left Blenheim at 10.42 a.m. to carry out the .search over a pre-arranged patrol. The obviously poor visibility up to that hour delayed departure. It is not altogether certain that the conditions over the route will favour a search, and the plane may return at any time. If visibility is satisfactory, the peri I of the cruise will probably be fouri hours, after which time the plane will return to Blenheim. CRUISING RANGE OF 500 MILES. BLENHEIM, January 12. Regarding the missing plane, Major Wilkes has instructed Captain Buckley in the plane D 11.9, with Air Mechanic Smith, to make Blenheim his base f »r the search for the missing Ao-Te-Arca Weather permitting, Captain Buckley leaves here to-morrow at daylight on a triangular course from Blenheim to Stephen’s Island, and his machine J’.as a cruising range of 500 miles. It will make no stops. It carries uq wireless. Tho weather conditions over tho Straits are *«till bad. Blenheim is regarded as the more central point far the base. LATER. Captain Buckley returned at 1.50, after three hours eight minutes search round Cape Jackson, over Stephen and Papiti Islands, to Foxton and back. The visibility at sea was not good. He saw no trace of the missing plane or airmen.

WARSHIP SAILS. AUCKLAND. January 12. Although 11.M.5. Dunedin has received instructions that the warship ! s Io proceed in search of the missing aviators, the vessel was still in port at noon, pending definite sailing orders. LATER. The Dunedin sailed shortly after noon.

FRUITLESS SEARCH NEAR CAPE FAREWELL. WELLINGTON, January 12 The f<dlowing te’egram was received by ’’ Jack, of Wellington, f-m** ' L. Hunt, who is spending a holiday in the vicinity of Farewell Spit: — “Search by self, E. C Anderson, 11. R. Young, Borough Engineer, Westport, for fifteen miles on the north side of Farewell Spit for traces of airmen, was without result.” The message was sent from Collingwood. EX XI ‘E RT ’S C() M MENT VIEWS OF MAJOR HAVILAND. SYDNEY, January 12. Major de Haviland, who inspected the Ao Te-Aroa at Melbourne, said that unless the machine developed defects on the journey, he considered it equal Io the task of crossing the Tasman. The plane impressed him as being most suitable for the flight, and given ordinary luck, he could discover no reason why it should not reach its destination. If it had been forced to de scend on the s'*a, and made a good landing, it should float for some hours, particularly if the airmen were able to empty the petrol tanks. Even if the machine crashed into the sea. and the wings were broken, it should float for two or three hours.

Knight Still Hopeful. TANKS WELL KEEP THEM AFLOAT SUFFICIENT FOOD FOB SEVEEAL DAYS. WELLINGTON, January 12. The following message has been received from Captain Knight from Sydney by Mr McNicol. All experts assure me that hope must not be abandoned for several days yet, for they are either in the mountainous country, or if they landed in the sea, their tanks were sufficiently empty to, keep them afloat. They had sufficient chocolate and water for several days. SEARCHING TH ERANGES TRAMPERS AND PLANES ENGAGED. WELLINGTON, January 12. Mr. Rawnsley lias been in touch with Mr, F. W. Vosseler of the Tara-

rua Tramping Club, and arrangements are now being made to send out parties at once from Otaki Levin and Kaitokc, and if possible from Greytow*n, to search for .the missing airmen. Mr. Rawnsley is a flying man himself ,and Major Wilkes and Captain Findlay wil] tgaku him over tho country by air to-morrow. Mr Vosseler will also have other parties of trampers organised and available, if the aerial search reveals anything that indicates that such help is needed. ROVER SCOUTS TO ASSIST. ACCORDING TO RADIO. Message, picked up by M 4 { Pi J. Patterson (Union Hofei) last evening, from the Auckland broadcasting station the Rover Scouts have been requested to parade at 9.30 a.m. today in front of the Wellington General Post Office with a view to cooperating with the Tararua Tramping Club, in organising search parties for the Rimutaka Ranges. MASTERTON’S VOLUNTEERS. MASTERTON, January 12. At the request of Major Wilkes, Mr. F. W. Vosseler, president of the Tararua. ""Tramping Club has asked a Masterton search party committee to organise parties of volunteers to search the Tararua Ranges from Holdsworth to Mitre, to see if they can find any trace of the missing

airmen. It is expected that the parties will leave to-morrow forenoon. FAEKAKARIKA OBSERVERS INTERVIEWED BY AVIATORS’ WIVES. CONVINCED "THEY SAW THE ’PLANE. WELLINGTON, January 12. One of the first of the many places from which reports were received stating that the aeroplane which had crossed the Tasman had been seen was Paekakariki. Messrs Pepperell and Harris were quite definite in ;their statements that they had seen the aeroplane in a downward glide, travelling out to sea. The fact that the engine Was not heard was attributed to a strong northerly wind blowing off the land. The Postmaster of PackstkarikT has stated, that he places the utmost reliance on the story told by Messrs Pepperell and Harris, is convinced that they did in fact see the aeroplane, and not merely imagined it.

So greatly impressed were Mrs. Moncrieff and Mrs. Hood with the persistency with which Messrs Pepprell and Harris held to their statements. that they yesterday journeyed to Paekakariki in company with Mr. J. R. Macdonald, one of the trustees of the Flying Fund, and interviewedthem. As a result of that interview all three arc convinced that the story is genuine, and that it was the missing aeroplane that was seen. “IN THE RIMUTAKAS” HOOD’S BROTHER CONFIDENT. OVERSHOT DESTINATION. (Received January 12, at 10.10 p.m.) SYDNEY, January 12. Captain’s Hood brother, who is a pilot in the Queensland Aerial Mail Service, states that it is impossible for his brother to have sent the reported wireless messages, as he did not- know the morse code.

Hood added that he was confident his brother and Moncrieff had effected a landing somewhere inland. It was their intention if it was dark when they arrived off the Coast, not tn make for Trentharn, but for one of 'beaches. They ■evidently’'* overshot their dstination and landed somewßerc in the Rimutakas. His brother knows the country well and has flown over it, so he was familiar with it from the air. BOOKSELLERS’ SYMPATHY. WANGANUI, January 12. Members of the New Zealand Retail Booksellers’ Association in conference at Wanganui, passed the following resolution to-day:— “The Association members desire to express to the wives of the aviators, who made the heroic venture across the Tasman Sea, their warm and sincere sympathy with them in their present anxiety and distress. The membefr earnest desire is that then fears may be speedily relieved.

SEARCHING THE COAST ‘ TWO CRUISERS AND SLOOPS ENGAGED. AUCKLAND, January 12. In view of the wide Extent of the area over which the search for the missing airmen is to be made off the Coast, the cruiser Diomede, will leave Auckland to-morrow morning, to assist the cruiser Dunedin which sailed shortly before noon to-day. The sloops Veronica and Laburnum, ■will coal and stand by ready to go to sea if their services are required The cruisers wtill co-operate in the | search, covering a wide area. The Dunedin and Diomede will both do

twenty four knots. The Dunedin is due in the search area at midday tomorrow, and the Diomede on Saturday morning. DELAY EXPLAINED. WELLINGTON, January 12. The Minister of Defence (Hon. E. J. Rolleston) announced to-night that 11.M.5. Diomede would leave Auckland at 11 a.m. to-day and would steam at 24 knots per hour, to join the H.M.S. Dunedin at the place of search. The Dunedin is due to arrive this morning, at the point from which the ' signals were last supposed to have been heard. It is explained that the crews of i both ships were on leave until to j morrow, and this is why it was impossible to despatch £hein earlier.