MR CATTY NOT ANXIOUS

Southland Times, Issue 23406, 13 January 1938, Page 5

MR CATTY NOT ANXIOUS

PREPARATIONS FOR EMERGENCIES SHELTER IN MANY SMALL BAYS (United Press Association) AUCKLAND, January 12. The firm belief that the Samoan Clipper had landed somewhere in the Western Samoan or Tongan groups was expressed by Mr Harold Gatty, special representative of Pan-Ameri-can Airways in New Zealand and Australia before the announcement of the finding of the flying-boat tonight He revealed the reassuring news that on his first northward flight last year Captain Musick had made a point of acquainting himself with emergency landing places in convenient bays in the vicinity and had detailed charts of the area.

Organization for safety at all costs is the paramount principle of Pan-Ameri-can Airways and that and confidence ir. the ability of the crew of the Clipper and in the ship herself caused Mr Gatty not to view with alarm the unexpected interruption in the flight. He said that contributing factors to this attitude were that the ship was seaworthy, the crew highly experienced, the weather fine, and the organization specially designed in its details to meet precisely such an emergency as the present one—an unexpected mechanical defect that could occur on any airline. “Judging by the few reports received the machine would not have flown more than about 250 miles from Pago Pago when she turned back,” said Mr Gatty. “It is most likely that as soon as the oil leak was discovered Captain Musick dumped the petrol from the wing tanks, conserving the supply in the extra tanks in the hull, sent out his position by radio to Pago Pago, and put the ship down. “The Pan-American meteorologist in Auckland, Mr E. B. Buxton, prepared today a forecast for the area of 600 miles in the vicinity of Pago Pago, and it showed no disturbances either in the vicinity or approaching it. It can thus be assumed that the Clipper, wherever she was when a landing became necessary, would come down on comparatively smooth water.

DIFFICULTIES OF WIRELESS “Before the machine alighted on the surface the trailing antenna for the radio would have been taken in," continued Mr Gatty, “leaving only a small fixed aerial on the machine for transmitting and receiving messages. The islands in the Western Samoan and Tongan groups, or many of them, are extremely mountainous and it is quite probable that if the machine landed in a bay under the lee of one of these islands her radio would not be heard at any great distance. No alarm was occasioned at our Auckland radio station as a result of being unable to communicate with our station at Pago Pago today. No doubt the operators at Pago Pago were working at high pressure and had no time to work Auckland, which was, after all, not vital. Even if the machine had been in severe danger nothing could have been done about it in Auckland, and the staff here has been in the position of mere lookers-on as far as giving any assistance is concerned in locating the machine.” Mr Gatty said that although the machine had not been in communication with Auckland direct at any time during the day she would have maintained unbroken connection by radio with Pago Pago while in flight. As soon as she aok off in the morning she would have reported regularly to Pago Pago, which would have full details of her direction, course, and r--eed at the moment of turning back. “It would be quite possible for the ship to lie in a bay for many hours without being reported,” Mr Gatty added. “Most of those islands in Western Samoa are sparsely populated, have no real roads, and no means of communicating with the more civilized parts. Though it is unlikely, it would be possible for the ship to be in a bay on Tutuila on the opposite side from Pago Pago and not be reported for quite a time. The mountains could easily interfere with her radio and there are so few people about that the ship might taxi a long way before she ( was seen.” /