WAS PLANE LOST IN PAERORA RANGES EN ROUTE FOR ROTORUA?

Grey River Argus, 29 October 1948, Page 3

WAS PLANE LOST IN PAERORA RANGES EN ROUTE FOR ROTORUA?

Lightning Kfey Have 7 . -i . ■» ir Been Responsible P.A. ROTORUA, Oct. 28 Information about the possible fate of the missing airliner, Kaka, was obtained by a reporter from residents of Reporoa, Broadlands and Golden Springs. PLANE SEEN OVER TAUPO Mr F. J. Eaton, of Golden Springs, stated that at 2.30 on Saturday, he heard and saw a plane travelling north-west, which passed oyer Taupo R,oad some distance from his home. Its course would be in the direction of Rotorua. It attracted attention because of its loud drone. THE PLANE IDENTIFIED

Ralph J. Mitchell, aged 17, employed at the Reporoa Post Office, said that, between 2 and 3 p.m., he was with his father on Strathmore Lock. “We heard a plane approaching, and I saw that it was a Lockheed Electra ” When asked to describe such ( a machine he was able to quote prominent Lockheed features. Continuing Mitchell said: “It was travelling towards the mountains as though heading for Rotorua. My father remarked that it sounded as if something was wrong with the engines, as it was making an unusual noise.” The mountains he referred are those of

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j.v was not until ail of the num uie rtepurua ciisuici nau uumiiec liiai muse cunuerneu agreuu inai trie situation was wortny or iininei inquiry.

POSSIBLE COURSE FROM TAUPO

In an endeavour to reconstruct th.. Kuna’s possiole course, there are a number or reports whicn, put together, cnecK me plane s route rrom uane Taupo until the time mat it wan saia to have disappeared into tm I mountains, rhe nrst of these is the ciann ot a motorist on me I Road to nave seen a plane Hying iiurtn. rue next assertion is ui«u u a Turangi woman, who tola tne ponce that she itiemined the rxaha u< it was .tlying across KaKe raupo. a conference, two days ago, ■K.N.Z.A.K. olncers said: "we ai< rairly satisfied 'mat tne course plotter for the Electra over tne end of Lage Taupo is sound.” From Taupo, Jenkinson’s observations at Broadlands, Baton’s at Golden Springs, ana tne Mitciieiis’ oos<arations at Stratnmore would indicate that yrooaoie course could have Peci. raupo East, and then up to the Puvroa Ranges, where the tast fy was seen of the plan. Having considered the route as plotted by these witnesses to be feasible, an explanation of the plane’s movements could be tins: "Lignming may have struck the Kaka’s trailing aerial, thus rendering her communication and beam aid inoperative, it may also have, in some manner, affected the plane's motors or steel propeller blades, weakening the plane's motive power somewnere in the Taupo’s White Cliff’s area, and facing trouble, which ultimately, led to a crash. It is logical that Commander Hare may have chosen Rotorua, instead of Hamilton, as a landing place, as Rotorua is only about half the distance. Presumably, as the result of these reports, four aircraft'from Ohakea went on reconnaissance t o-day being joined by two others in nw afternoon. Latest Conjecture P.A, WELLINGTON, October 28. While twenty planes engaged today on a task that proved fruitless, reports of an aircraft having been seen or heard at critical times on Saturday afternoon, when the Kaka and its .13 occupants disappeared, between Palmerston North and Hamilton, continued to be received during the day. Often they were-contradic-tory. L

However, there was a slender thread of evidence to suggest that, after being possibly sighted at Te Kuiti, and heard at -Waitomo, the airliner may have reached Kawhia harbour, on the West Coast, and then turned inland for Hamilton. This would involve a flight over rugged mountainous country, shrouded in treacherous cloud. GUESSWORK

Search Control in Wellington stated ■it was impossible to say what track the aircraft followed, and to attempt to plot a theoretical course would merely be ' confusing. The number of possible courses which the machine may have taken was almost unlimited. The search has moved steadily northward, but is directed by the Wellington air traffic control centre. The possibility that the Kaka migh;, actually be much further south than many reports would suggest has not been overlooked, and some aircraft from southern bases searched areas a long way south of those covered by planes from Auckland and Hamilton.

A suggestion that the aeroplane may have reached Kawhia "(just north of Albatross Point) and possibly have flown over the sea, focussed attention on a report received from three units of the high frequency direction-finding network on Saturday that an unidentifiable signal was received from a point some 60 miles off the coast in the North Taranaki Bight. The authorities are satisfied that this signal was some freak of radio, and not from the Kaka.