Thrilling Experience

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XVIII, Issue 199, 6 August 1928, Page 6

Thrilling Experience

Plane Catches Fire in Mid-Air Wild Dive to the Sea Courtenay’s Graphic Story [Australian and New Zealand Press Association.] [United Service.] Captain Courtenay and three companions, who attempted to fly from Lisbon to America, via the Azores and Newfoundland, were forced down at sea through their machine catching fire. They were subsequent!}' rescued by a ship. Below will be found Captain Courtenay’s graphic account of their experience.

London, Aug. 3. A copyright message gives Captain Courtenay’s own story aboard the Minnewaska. He states: “The plane caught fire and abruptly and nearly tragically ended the flight. 1 decided after leaving Horta on Wednesday to fly on a southerly course in order to put the head winds abeam as we finished the trip, expecting to arrive at Newfoundland in 17 hours. After flying for three hours the moon rose cloud-blanketed. The crew were comfortably stowed. Hugh Gilmour, wireless operator, ascertained from steamers that the direction of the wind differed from the forecast. “While I was recalculating the course, we lost sight of the sky and ran into a blinding rainstorm. We hit many ferocious bumps, but the engines were running admirably, carburation was perfect, and the instruments accurate. The rain stopped in two hours, but we were still flying blind at 1,800 feet. We climbed to inspect the upper side of the clouds at 3,500 feet. This was too high to encounter adverse winds. We descended below the clouds 1,000 feet. It was too dark to see the water. The clouds broke at 2.15 in the morning and we glimpsed the moon and climbed to 1500 feet. REAR ENGINE IN FLAMES “I was discussing the engines with the mechanic, Fred Pierce, when 1 saw the most horrible sight of my flying career. The cheery exhaust flame behind suddenly changed to a dull red glow. I was stunned to see the rear engine enveloped in flames, stretching out like a giant blowlamp rearwards over Elwood Hosmer's seat and beyond the rudder. The tail of the machine in the darkness must have resembled a grotesque red comet. The situation seemed a nightmare. It did not occur to me that we could reach the water before the tail burned.

“My subsequent actions merely followed piloting instinct, which possibly saved us. Pierce rushed into the engine-room and turned off the petrol. Three seconds later it would have been too late. I cut oft all the switches and threw the machine into a headlong dive through the blackness, with a vague idea of burning up escaped petrol if Pierce should have failed to turn off the cocks. Tile dive shot Gilmour from his seat. As I drew out of the dive, with the burning seaplane overloaded one ton, I saw the glow reflected on the wave-crests.

“I managed to put the machine on one crest, ran down the hill of the water nnd up the next, just preventing the seanlane from shooting into the air off the crest. The machine, after several jolts, came to rest without damage PETROL COCKS TURNED OFF “Pierce, during the descent, amazingly succeeded in turning off the cocks and applying a fire extin-

guisher inside the engine room, greatly diminishing the flames, the remainder of which, instead of streaming out behind, burned directly over an opening in the hull containing 600 gallons of petrol. The fire extinguisher was exhausted and the flames burned fiercely for a quarter of an hour, while we four stood awaiting the final explosion, which never came. “When the flames subsided we erected boat-hooks to support the emergency wireless. Gilmour sent S.O.S. calls, but received no reply. We decided to conserve our batteries by awaiting daybreak. When the engine-room had cooled we found that a petrol pipe had broken, causing petrol under pressure to be forced against the engine near the exhaust. The breakage, as it developed. must have caused the accumulation of petrol to get a good send off when the fumes leached the exhaust. The metal engine mounting was burned through like paper. If the machine had not been 'meial it would not have survived five minutes.

DEJECTED AND SEASICK “Gilmour resumed the S.O.S. calls at daybreak. The steamer Cedric answered and 1 checked our position, but by the time an accurate estimate was sent we had drifted 30 miles. Our batteries gradually ran out as the linei searched. We knew our position was serious and put the last power into a directional signal to the Minnewaska. We tried smoke signals and nearly re-ignited the machine. We waited dejected and seasick, owing to the continual rolling. “Gilmour announced casually, “Ship sighted,” 1 called h'm a loar, and looked and saw the finest sight I have ever seen, the Minnewaska steaming towards us. “I have failed again to fly across the Atlantic, but I am not disheartened. as failure has proved my point better than success. I have always insisted that a seaworthy machine and efficient wireless are essential to successful ocean flights. These principles saved our lives in about as perilous a situation as aviators ever were in.” COST OF RESCUE The “Daily Mail’’ says Courtney’s rescue calls attention to the expenses entailed to shipping companies whose vessels responded to his S.O.S. Several liners had to quit their course to rush to his assistance. The efforts of all hut one were necessarily vain. The aggregate cost thereof is probably between £7,000 and £lO,OOO. A shipping official points out that while vessels are always ready to answer distress messages from ships, Atlantic fliers are in a different category, inasmuch as they start out knowing they will he lionised if successful, but they do not consider the expense caused if anything goes wrong.