Dramatic Story of Sighting Scattered Parts

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26916, 30 October 1948, Page 6

Dramatic Story of Sighting Scattered Parts

P.A. AUCKLAND, Oct. 29. The story of the finding of the wrecked airliner was told by the captain of the Dakota, Flight Lieutenant C. L. Siegert, after he had landed at Whenuapai from Ohakea this afternoon. “We left Whenuapai at 6.15 a.m. to search a part of the National Park area,” he said. “ There was a theory that the aircraft might be on the western slopes, and we circled that vicinity. We had not been there very long when the radio operator, Flying Officer D. W. Gray, sighted the wreck. A glint of silver against the snow was what Flying Officer Gray saw, and as we circled at 6500 ft it seemed that the Electra had hit the side of the mountain and rolled down into the gully. “The Electra seemed to have been shattered. We could see what we

took to be a part of the wing and another large piece that looked like the double tail assembly. Other parts not identifiable from the air were scattered about between where the Kaka apparently struck and where the bigger bits of wreckage were in the gully “The wreckage was fairly well /covered with snow when we first saw It,” he continued. “We reported by radio that the wreckage had been seen that there was no sign of life, and that we could see no trace of a fire having occurred. Flying condi-. tions generally were quite good, with excellent visibility, but there was a considerable turbulence in the valleys, and we could not get down as close as we would have liked. As the sun came up, however, the snow round the wreck seemed to clear a little, and we could see the Electra more distinctly.”