TOLL OF THE AIR

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXI, 4 February 1928, Page 8

TOLL OF THE AIR

31 VANISH IN A YEAR A TRAGIC LIST The desperate clinging to Lhe JasL shadowy possibility ol the ultimate ie.'cue of Lieutenant Moiicriefl and Captain llooil lias had its parallel alter every disappearance of airmen, whose stories have made tragic and mysterious pages in the history of aviation during the past year. The epic case of the Australian, Harry Hawker, and his companion, Lieutenant thieve, who, on their attempt to fly across the Atlantic, were a week overdue when they turned up, having been picked up by a passing steamer, is the classic instance of the justification of faith in the ultimate triumph of good luck against fate. He bad taken off from Newfoundland on 18th May, 1919. Intense interest in the (light was taken on both sides of lhe Atlantic. Anxiety ran high when word came from the aviator that lie was running out of petrol 100 miles off the Irish const. Days passed during which the silence of fate seemed to have engulfed them. A search by vessels proving fruitless, hope had .almost been given up when word came from a coastguard at the North of Scotland that Hawker and Grieve had been lescued by the Danish steamer Mary. A destroyer was sent out and the airmen were taken from the Mary and landed at Thurso, Scotland. ENGINE FAILED It transpired that when 1850 miles had been covered and the aeroplane was off the coast of Ireland, the water circulation of the engine was tound to have stopped. This meant that they would have to descend. 'They cruised for two hours over the surface until the Mary was sighted, and they were taken on hoard. A remarkable reception was accorded the aviators for their glorious failure when they arrived in London. 1 hey were decorated by. the King with the Air Force Cross. The wreckage of their machine and the mails that it carried were afterwards picked up by a steamer. BRITAIN FIRST A month later Britain secured the honour of being the first in the air over the Atlantic, when Captain J. Alcock and Lieutenant A. V. Brown crossed, covering 1936 miles in 15 hours 57 minutes. In recent months, since the wave of endeavour, to conquer vast distances was re-awakened, and has taken a heavy toll of young and gallant lives, luck has pi deed her favourites from the very arms of death. Commander Byrd and three companions, who turned back to sea after actually flying around Paris in a fog, crashed off the coast and had to swim ashore. Major de Burros, the Brazilian airman. and three comrades were picked up by a passing steamer when their machine crashed during a flight from Europe to South America, and Miss Ruth Elder and George Haldeman. on their way from America to Europe, were picked up by a steamer from their floating ’plane just before it caught fire. VEIL OF MYSTERY The loss of the New Zealand airmen, Hood and Monerieff, makes thirty-one lives sacrificed in little more than a year in attempts on long distance flights over the Atlantic and the Pacific. Over nearly all the deaths, save four, which occurred in accidents when the machines were taking off, the veil of mystery has descended, shutting out. utterly all trace of their remains and every inkling of how they met their doom. Three of the victims were women. Princess Lowenstein Wertheim and Mrs Frances Grayson, who perished in the Atlantic, and Miss Mildred Doran, who disappeared during the Dole Prize flight from San Francisco to Honolulu. DEATH LIST The list of fatalities is now as follows France: Captain St. Roman and two companions lost during a flight, from Franco to Brazil. Captain Nungessor and Coli, who set

onl, from Paris for New York, and have mil. been heard of since. Britain: Princess Lowenstein Wit I helm, Lieutenant Colonel Minehin, and Leslie llamilloll. lost in lhe “SI.. Raphael” in a. ili,ghl Iri >in England to America. Canada: Captain Tally and Lieutenant Metcalf, lost, in the “Sir John Carling" while, attempting a. flight from Canada lo England. United. States: Jack Frost and Cordon Scott in the "Golden Eagle,” and Miss Mildred Doran, J. A. I.Vdlar ami Lieulemml V. Kmipe in lhe “Miss Doran." who disappeared' during the Dole Prize (light from San Francisco to Hawaii, and William Erwin ~ ami A. ii. Kicliwaldt, who were lost while flying in the “Spirit of Dallas” in search of the missing machines. Paul Redfern, lost in the “Port of Brunswick,” while attempting a nonstop flight, from Georgia, U.S.A., to Brazil.

Lieutenant-Commander Davis and Lieutenant Wooster, killed in the •'American Legion” when trying to rise with a heavy fuel load for a flight from America to hranee. Two of Captain Reno Pouch's companions killed when his machine crashed and caught fire when taking off for a flight from America to France. Lloyd Bertaud. J. D. Hill and Phillip Payne, lost, in the “Old Glory” while attempting a flight from America to Europe. Mrs Frances Grayson, Lieutenant Oskar Omclal, Brice Goldsborough and Fred Koehler, who disappeared in an attempt to fly across the Atlantic from America. New Zealand: Lieutenant J. U. Monerieff and Captain G. Hood, lost on flight across Tasman. Four successful mwi-stop flights from North America. Europe and four flights from San Francisco to Hawaii are the achievements for which the huge price in lives lias been paid. No'bodies were ever recovered. The only machines of which wreckage was found were the “Old Glory” and the machine used by Captain St. Roman. NUNC ESSO R’S FATE For weeks the eyes of the civilised world were turned on the search made for Nungessor and Coli, who, in May last year, were the first to pay the penalty of extreme hardihood when they flew out of human ken’ in an attempt to cross the Atlantic from Franco to America. They made history in more ways than one. Their flight began the wave of endeavour in long distance flying that only came to a temporary lull last vear after the Dole Prize race. Thenfate was the first in the long and grim chapter of the failures that has been written side by side with the story of illustrious achievements. Reports indicating that the aviators may have reached some point in the region of Labrador persisted for more than a month after they had left Paris and vanished over the Atlantic. Naval tugs and coastguard craft scoured- the coast. It was even proposed that the dirigible Los Angeles should bo sent, but this was abandoned when it was pointed out that the airship’s supply of helium was not sufficient to last during a voyage over Labrador. A reward of £IOOO was offered by Mr Raymond Orteig for any aviator discovering Nungessor or traces of his machine. Nevertheless, in spite of all attempts, no trace was ever found and no c-lue tc, the mystery of the fate of the airmen has ever been revealed. HEROIC MOTHER One of the most pathetic features of this story of disaster was the patient heroism of’ Nungessor’s aged mother, whose brave front of continued hopefulness in the face of despair touched beholders. One of the first actions of Lindbergh when he successfully crossed the Atlantic a few weeks later was lo visit Madame Nungessor, and offer his condolences. Within a few months, while Schlee and Brock, Chamberlain and Levine and Byrd had flown across the Atlantic, the St. Raphael, the Sir John Carling, and the Old Glory hud shared the fate of the White Bird in the Atlantic, and the Miss Doran, the Golden Eagle and the Spirit of Dallas had been swallowed up in the wastes of the Pacific. TASMAN’S VICTIMS Prior to the disappearance of Lieutenant Monerieff and Captain Ilood, the only other case of an aviator vanishing in Australasian waters was in 1920, when Captain Stutt, an instructor in the Air Force at Melbourne, set out over Bass Straits in an aeroplane to search for the missing schooner, Amelia J. He was never seen again. Reports that an aeroplane had been seen among the islands off to Hie north-east of Tasmania led to the belief that lie may have landed on some out-of-the-way spot, but a search failed to clear up the mystery and no trace of him or his machine was ever found.

The fate of the schooner that lie went in search of was equally mysterious. Owned hy Henry Jones, Ltd.. of Hobart, ’ and built by them in Tasmania, the Amelic J., which was fitted and rigged on the most up-to-date lines, was on her maiden voyage when she vanished without leaving a trace. Many and varied were the theories advanced as to her fate, including one that the crew had mutinied and had taken the vessel away to distant parts.