WRECKED AIR LINER

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXII, 30 November 1938, Page 7

WRECKED AIR LINER

NO TRACE OF MISSING MEMBERS OF CREW EFFORTS TO SALVAGE MAILS SOME FOR NEW ZEALAND FEARED LOST lU.P.A..—By Electric Telegraph— Copy right 1 (Received 30th November, 9 a.m) . LONDON, 29th November. It is reported from Baghdad that the Imperial Airways flying-boat Calpurnia, the wreckage of which was located yesterday, crashed when attempting to land on Lake Havbaniyah during a sandstorm. Members of the crew of five who are missing and believed to be drowned are Captain Attwood, commander of the Canopus at the inauguration of the service between England and Cape Town in 1937, and Mr Spottiswoode, radio officer. Mr Anderson end Probationary Station Officer Harrison, were injured. Mr Übee, the steward, is not mentioned, but it is presumed that he is missing. The Calpurnia's mail includes 65 bags for Australia and 69 for New Zealand. R.A.F. men are trying to salvage the letters from the burst mailbags, some of which destined for New Zealand were found floating on the lake, but it is unlikely that all will be recovered. There is no trace of the three missing members of the crew. It is feared that their bodies are under the wreckage. Captain Attwood, aged 39, was making his last trip after 12 years’ service. He was due to begin vork as deputy director of civil aviation in India. The radio officer, Mr A. N. Spottiswoode. of the flying-boat Calpurnia, who is aged 31, lives near Southampton. He is a half-brother of Mr L. Courtenay Atwool, Aucklad. He is a graduate of Cambridge University, where he took his B.A. While at the university he was very keen on motor racing, and was a prominent member of the university racing club. Upon leaving Cambridge Mr Spottiswoode joined the Royal Air Force and served for six years. For some time he was on the aircartt-'""'— : rr H.M.S. Furious. He had a remarkable escape from drowning during the Abyssinian war. H.M.S. Furious was on her way to the Mediterranean and was battling through heavy seas in the Bay of Biscay when an enormous wave swept Mr Spottiswoode from the deck of the air-craft-carrier. But for the prompt manoeuvring and rescue work of one of the escorting destroyers, he would have been drowned. Mr Spottiswoode joined Imperial Airways upon leaving the Royal Air Force, and has been in the company’s employ for the past two years. P later message from Baghdad states that divers are working on the flyingboat Calpurnia’s wreckage and It is believed that the three missing members of the crew are under the forepart of the machine which is most heavily damaged and submerged. Sixty sodden mailbags have already been salvaged in addition to hundreds of letters retrieved by boats of the R.A.F. sailing club while floating on the surface of the lake. Mr Anderson and Mr Harrison, the two surviving members of the crew, are suffering shock and are now in the Air Force hospital at Habbaniyah. CAPTAIN’S BODY FOUND (Received 30th November, 1.50 p.m.) LONDON, 29th November. It is officially stated that the Calpurnia was carrying all the Australian and part of the New Zealand letter mail prepared on 23rc' November, and all the New Zealand letter mail prepared on 24th November. Captain Attwood’s body was found under the wreckage.