FAMOUS AIRMAN KILLED.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20977, 14 September 1931, Page 9

FAMOUS AIRMAN KILLED.

LEBRIX IN A CRASH. ACCIDENT IN RUSSIA. DEATH OF COMPANION. THIRD OCCUPANT SAVED. By Telegraph—Press Association—Copyright. (Received September 13, 5.5 p.m.) MOSCOW, Sept. 12. The aeroplane Trait d'Union 11., which left Le Bouiget yesterday morning for 'l'okio, in an attempt to set a long distance record, crashed near the mouth of the River Tanyp. Two of tho three occupants, M. Lebrix and M. Mesmin, the latter of whom had accompanied the pilots (MM. Lebrix and Doret), were killed, M. Doret descended by a parachute and escaped injury. The accident was due to bad weather. The Soviet is sending aid from Ufa, the chief town of the district in East Russia, where the accident occurred. The aeroplane Trait d'Union (hyphen) in which Messrs. Lebrix and Dcret attempted to set a long distance record last July, crashed when they were over Siberia, but both men parachuted to safety. Joseph Marie Lebrix was famed as the airman who, with Captain Costes, made the first non-stop flight across the South Atlantic. lie was horn at Baden, Morbihan, in February, 1899. After completing his training he entered the Navy in 1921 as an ensign. In January, 1924, he became an aviation pupil at the Berre seaplane station, passing as a pilot in October. Drafted to a squadron of Goliaths at Cuers, he went with it to Casablanca to take part in the operations in Morocco. In May, 1926, he was mentioned in despatches for his conduct during a reconnaissance. His engine having failed, he made a forced descent and then stood by his machine for three days in hostile country without food. On his return to Franco he became acquainted with the airman Drouhin, with whom it was proposed that he should attempt the Atlantic flight. The appearance of Mr. Levine put an end to this plan. Lebrix then joined forces with Costes. On October 10, 1927, the two airmen left Paris for Buenos Aires with the object of making tho flight in four stages. They reached St. Louis, Senegal (2672 miles), in 25 hours without a stop. On October 14 they left the African coast and after the first non-stop flight across the South Atlantic arrived at Natal, Brazil (1938 miles) in 17£ hours. Four more stages took them to their destination, the entire trip being accomplished in 11 days, including several periods of waiting for favourable conditions. lor this feat they were made Officers of the Legion of Honour. The airmen then made a number of long flights in South America, going from Buenos Aires to Asuncion, Paraguay, and back in one day and also from the Argentine capital to Rio de Janeiro and back in a day. They visited Monte Video and flew across the Andes to Santiago do Chile and thence to La Paz, in Bolivia. They had then covered over 14,000 miles without any serious mishap.

SECOND ATTEMPT FAILS. QUESTION MARK COMES DOWN AIRMEN ABANDON FLIGHT. (Received September 13, 5.5 p.m.) PARIS, Sept. 12. A message from Dusseldorf says the aeroplane Question Mark, in which Messrs. P. Godos and H. Robida were attempting a record flight from Le Bourget to Tokio, was forced down with engine trouble. Messrs. Codos and Robida have abandoned their flight. SMITH SEEKS EECORI). WYNDHAM-CROYDON FLIGHT. NEW SPORTS AEROPLANE. (Received September 13, 7.15 p.m.) SYDNEY, Sept. 13. It was announced to-day that AirCommodore Kingsford Smith would shortly attempt to lower Mr. J. A. Mollison's record of 8 days 21 hours 25 minutes for tho flight from Australia to England, in his new Avro Sports Avian machine, fitted with a De Havilland Mark 11. engine, which is now being assembled at Mascot. The machine will be callecV" Southern Cross Minor. From Wyndhani the route will be Cheribon, Victoria Point, Calcutta, Karachi, Bagdad, Athens, Paris and London, a total distance of 10,073 miles. Mr. Smith expects to land at Croydon on tho seventh day. TWO MISSING AIEMEN. ATTEMPT TO FLY PACIFIC. MUCH REGRET IN JAPAN. TOKIO, Sept. 11. There arc general expressions of sympathy and regret at the continued absence of news of Messrs. Allen and Movie, the American airmen who left Japan for Seattle on September 7. Tho conviction is held that they perished in a gallant attempt to conquer the Pacific.