SEEN FROM AIR

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26424, 31 March 1947, Page 5

SEEN FROM AIR

MISSING DUTCH DAKOTA CRASH INTO DENSE SCRUB Rec. 9 p.m. SYDNEY, Mar. 30. The Dutch Navy Dakota, which has been missing since Tuesday, was seen from the air in swampy country, 50 miles north-east of Katherine, Northern Territory, by a passenger in a Qantas flying boat. The discovery of the plane, for which a search has been made continuously since its disappearance, was an extremely fortunate one. A passenger, Dr Stanley, • of London, was looking through a window of the flying boat, which was bound from Bowen to Darwin, when he saw flashes through a break in the cloud. He notified the first officer who immediately told the pilot. The , flying boat, which was at 6000 feet at the time, was brought down through the cloud to 500 feet from where the stranded Dakota was clearly visible. The pilot reported by telephone to Sydney to-day that he saw the aircraft lying in a small swampy patch among dense scrub and. thickets. Four men were waving and trying to signal with a mirror but he could not read the message. The plane' appeared to Have made a belly landing and there was no sign of damage to the fuselage. The Dutchmen had crash-landed in the only clearing for miles and were within reach of the Katherine River so that they would hot have suffered from thirst. 'Ah R.A.A.F. Dakota has already dropped food to the marooned Dutchmen, and others will drop further supplies. A pack train of 25 horses has left Katherine for the crash and is expected to arrive there late to-mor-row. With the end of the wet season approaching the ground party will face flooded rivers, miles of swamp, thick jungle and tall grass. Nothing has yet been found of the New Zealand and Australian Mosquitoes missing in the Northern Territory

An unconfirmed report from Sydney on Friday stated that the Dutch Dakota had been found .at Canning Downs Station, between Hughenden and Townsville.