MAROONED

Hokitika Guardian, 12 March 1938, Page 6

MAROONED

FOR TWENTY-FOUR HOURS PILOT DOWN ON LONELY ISLAND SYDNEY,. March. 2, An iairman was marooned without food for 24 hours on Restoration Island,' Torres Straits. When he attempted to land at Weymouth Bay, an isolated spot on the island, his plane nose-dived into the surf. The pilot, was E. D. Crisp, and the machine belonged to Mandated Airlines of New Guinea. Crisp was saved by the Shell Coinpany tanker Scalaria. Tlio crew told the story when the ship reached Sydney yesterday. “On February 18, a day’s' run south of Thursday Island, as were passing \yeymouth Bay, Captain R. I j - llarrj,. Torres Strait pilot, saw something on the shore.” said Second Officer H. V. Jeffcoat. Waving White Flag. “Through his glass he saw that it was an aeroplane. A man was standing beside it trying to attract our Attention by waving a white flag. “The pilot of the plane, who was uninjured, told me that he had tried to land on the beach—the only clear strip of land for hundreds of miles round here—because he was running short oi fuel. “Something went wrong, and no crashed, on the edge of the beach ant | smashed his propellor. I ? “He had not eaten since lie had crashed 24 hours before. Wirelessed Agents. “We gave him a week’s supply of food, and wirelessed his agents ai Cairns —\V. R. Carpenter and Co., Ltd., —to send help. “Crisp would not leave his plane.” W. R. Carpenter and Co. explainer yesterday that Crisp had left Cairns for Wau in the plane—a de Havilam. Dragon—oh Tuesday, February 15. In response to the wireless message, a rescue plane with materials for repairs left Cairns on Sunday. The plane returned for more equipment, flew back to Crisp oh-Thursday, and returned to Cairns yesterday. - They were advised by wireless yesterday that Crisp would return to Darwi,. within the next few days.