TRAGIC AIR RACE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19721, 22 August 1927, Page 9

TRAGIC AIR RACE.

DOLE PRIZE ENTRANTS.

THIRD MACHINE l/lISSINO.

RESCUE EFFORT FAILS.

RADIO CALL FOR HELP.

SEVEN FLIERS NOW LOST

By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright (Received August 21, 5.5 p.m.) A. and N.Z.-Sun. VANCOUVER. Aug 20. There is still no definite news of the two missing aeroplanes, Miss Doran and Golden Eagle. These machines were coin, petitors in the race for the Dole prize from Oakland to Hawaii, which was begun on Tuesday. The former was piloted by J. A. Peddlar, Lieutenant V. lvnope as navigator and Miss Mildred Doran as wireless operator. The pilot of the latter was Jack Frost and the navigator Gordon Scott. The latest development is that the monoplane, Dallas Spirit, which failed to start in the race, is also missing. A message from San Francisco says the pilot, Captain William Erwin, taking with him A. H. Eichwaldt as navigator, left Oakland at 2.15 p.m. on Friday for Honolulu to seek for the other two missing planes. Two radio messages wero received in the evening, but the Dallas Spirit has n'ot been heard from since. The messages stated that the machine was tail-spinning. Erwin's Last Dramatic Message. This S.O.S. was sent out from a point 592 nautical miles west of San Francisco. The nearest vessel was the steamer Pleiodon, bound from Auckland to San Fran cisco. She sent out word that she was proceeding to the position from which the monoplane had wirelessed. The steamer was under forced draught. It is feared that Captain Erwin's attempt to find the Miss Doran and Golden Eagle has only resulted in adding another to the long list of tragedies and mishaps connected with the Dole flight. Naval vessels are speeding toward the locality from which the Dallas Spirit was last reported by radio. Tho last message from the plane said : "We are in another tail-spin." It was then dramatically cut off. Experts fear the final spin brought disaster. Tragedies Attendant on Race. Further mystery is added to the situation by the fact that radio operators at various points on the Pacific Coast have reported having heard sounds after Captain Erwin's last message. These might have indicated that he was endeavouring to get his sending set into commission again. After a stop at Honolulu, Captain Erwin had. intended flying to Hongkong with a stop at Tokio in order to win a special prize of £SOOO which Mr. William Easterwood offered him to fly from Dallas, Texas, to Hongkong. He would also have been eligible for £IO,OOO reward. Advices from Washington state that officials there express the belief that there is little chance of finding the five occupants of the other two missing planes alive. Nevertheless, the desperate search by the Navy, agumented by planes and passenger ships, will continue at least until Tuesday. Both planes wero assuredly forced to descend and naval officials fear their canvas wings might be soaked by water and tho rubber safety-boats overturned or broken by the Pacific swells. It is understood that those connected with the Dole flight are deeply affected by the series of tragedies attendant upon it. Three airmen are known to be dead, six others and Miss Mildred Doran are missing, three planes have been wrecked and three are missing. Enormous sums of money have been spent in preparing for the flights and in the rescue work. Rumours, but no Discoveries. A message from Honolulu says a signal corps there to-day intercepted two messages, partly undecipherable, from an unidentified ship. These reported that tho Golden Eaglo had been found. It is not known whether the messages are authentic. The steamer West Sequanna wirelessed to San Francisco saying members of its crew had seon flares from tho water in tho vicinity of the Dallas Spirit's crash. An all-night search had„been made, but nothing was discovered. The news agencies which published the earlier reports that the Miss Doran had been found wero flooded with inquiries and recriminations from all parts of the world when it was discovered that the reports were inaccurate. Considerable circumstantial detail lent an air of verity to the story which described how the three fliers had stepped ashore, who greeted them, etc. It now-transpires that the false report emanated from a correspondent of a Honolulu paper, who failed to follow his instructions, which were to send nothing he had not personally seen. For that reason, his paper accepted his despatch as accurate.