THE TASMAN FLIERS

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXIX, Issue 4694, 16 May 1935, Page 5

THE TASMAN FLIERS

NARROW ESCAPE FROM DISASTER.

ON VOYAGE FROM AUSTRALIA.

LOSS OF STARBOARD PROPELLER

Keen anxiety was felt in Australia and New Zealand yesterday when it was learned that the monoplane Southern Cross, with the Jubilee mails on board, had lost one of its propellers after covering 450 miles on the flight from Richmond Aerodrome, near Sydney, to New Plymouth. The crew consisted of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, Captain P. G. Taylor (navigator), and Mr. J. S. W. Stannage (wireless operator). It had been arranged for the Faith in Australia to accompany the Southern Cross, but no navigator being obtainable the mails a'nd packages of the Faith in Australia were transferred to the Southern Cross, which left the Richmond Aerodrome at 1.50 (N.Z. time) on Wednesday morning* When the propeller was splintered, one of the engines became useless, and the monoplane turned back to Australia and the three men experienced a terrific strain as one of the other engines Showed signs of breaking down. The difficulties were accentuated because of a head wind with only two propellers working, and very slow headway was made. At 11.6 yesterday morning a wireless message was received, “Going down, stand by,” but then came a more reassuring message, “Right; picked up again.” A few minutes later a'nother message .was received announcing that the monoplane was gaining altitude. From then on the monoplane dropped but managed to again lift, and on several occasions it seemed almost inevitable that it would drop into the sea, but at 5.42 p.m. a message was received announcing that the Southern Cross had reached the Mascot Aerodrome at Sydney.' All the cargo and part of the mail had to be jettisoned to lighten the •monoplane, and it was scarcely possible that the men would have been saved unless this drastic measure had been carried out. It was said that disaster was only averted by the heroism of Captain Taylor, who climbed out below the wing to supply the port engine with oil. Sir Charles made a good landing at the Mascot Aerodrome. Lady Smith was among the waiting crowd and bore up well under the terrific strain. Sir Charles, supported on the arms of friends, was escorted through the surging crowd and placed in the care of Dr. Banks, who, refused to allow him to be interviewed. An official report was issued that he was teml- - deaf and exhausted. Captain Taylor and Mr. John Stannage, wireless operator, were also given ovations when they emerged from the monoplane.

FURTHER PARTICULARS. If. BREAKING OF EXHAUST MANIFOLD. SPLINTERS THE PROPELLER. (Press Association. —Copyright.) __ (Received 12.20 p.m.) Sydney, this day. It is now revealed that the breaking of .the exhaust manifold on the centre engine of the Southern Cross caused a piece of metal to fly back and splinter the starboard propeller. Fourteen bags of mail were jettisoned, and included the whole of the letters from Sydney. The seven bags saved were from other States.

Dumping of Mail and Cargo.

During one of the occasions when the plane was within a few feet of the ocean, Mr. Stannage began dumping the mail bags into the sea to lighten the load, also the cargo and petrol—in fact, anything that could be spared was thrown overboard, including the food hampers, boots, and spare clothing. This action, in the opinion of “Smithy,” undoubtedly enabled him to lift the plane to an altitude sufficient to keep replenished the oil supply of the functioningengine. Captain Taylor’s Bravery. It appears that Captain Taylor made six trips at half-hourly intervals to the starboard and port engines. It was necessary to stop the port engine while he climbed along the strut to replenish its supply, and in this way the plane lost both altitude and speed. Each time the plane was within 50 feet of the sea Captain Taylor climbed back into the cockpit and “Smithy” gave the port engine a full throttle to regain speed and height. Again, at one stage while Captain Taylor was pouring oil into the port motor the pla'ne dropped within 25 feet of the sea. This caused Mr. Stannage to send out a wireless message which was received by the naval authorities, to the effect that they were going down into the sea. It was then that preparations were made to send H.M.S. Sussex to the rescue.

Kingsford Smith Interviewed.

Sir Kingsford Smith, when interviewed, said although he felt he _ was risking the lives of his companions, he decided to keep the Jubilee mail until it seemed certain that the ’plane would go into the sea unless the bags were thrown overboard. “I thought I could save the mail by jettisoning the cargo, but it did not make the difference I expected,” Smithy said. He added: “Without the co-opera-tion of Taylor and Stannage it would have been impossinle for us to get back to the New South Wales coast, which grew closer at an agonising rate of time.”

“Greatest Disappointment of Career.”

Smithy said he hoped the consignors of the freight which was jettisoned would forgive him. He said: “I feel I have betrayed the faith of more than thirty thousand posters of letters, but I am sure they . would sooner have had me save the lives of my companions rather than go into the water with the heavy load. I am

afraid the old bus is getting’ too old for the job, but a mishap like this does not alter my opinion about the possibilities of the trans-Tasman air service with modern ’planes. I wish to make no excuses, tind I consider this the greatest disappointment of my career.” Captain Taylor said: “I hope this sort of thing happens only once in my lifetime. The ’plane at times was only twenty feet above the water and that water did not look good to me.” ’