RESCUE AT SEA

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23215, 8 December 1938, Page 15

RESCUE AT SEA

SIX GERMAN FLIERS CRASH NEAR MANILA FISHING BOATS HANDY AMPHIBIAN SAVES TWO By Telegraph—Press Association —Copyright MANILA, Dec. 6 Details of the rescue of the crew of the Focher-Wulf Condor aeroplane Brandenburg, which landed in the ocean 30 miles west of Manila yesterday when flying back to Germany from Japan, are now to hand. It transpires that a fuel pipe broke and caused the forced landing in shallow water. Philippine fishermen rescued four of the occupants and the United States amphibian aeroplane the remaining two members of the crew. The Condor crashed amid a group of -fishermen, who, according to radio reports, picked up four of the crew a moment before the machine sank about 100 feet off shore. Eye-witnesses report that the top was submerged, .but that the aeroplane was visible from the shore. It is expected that it can be salvaged. A United States Army airman,. Captain Mark Lewis, who began searching in an aeroplane when the Condor failed to arrive, witnessed part of the rescue from the air. By radio he ordered the amphibian to be despatched to sid in the rescue. The Germans at 3.30 p.m. ' had radioed that they were flying over Cavite and were encountering engine trouble. It is believed that they were making an effort to effect an emergency landing when they were forced down. A launch from Cavite reached the scene and took on board the rescued members of the crew, none of whom was injured. They were brought to Manila and will await an attempt at low tide to salvage the aeroplane, which will be dismantled and shipped to Germany. The Germans are not willing to state the cause of the crash until the machine is dismantled and examined. However, they indicate that it was oil pipe failure. Hundreds of people lined the shore to see the submerged aeroplane. Some went alongside in canoes, and it is feared that souvenir hunters may do damage to the machine.