FEW MESSAGES AT AUCKLAND

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

FEW MESSAGES AT AUCKLAND

COMPANY OFFICIALS CONFIDENT DISTURBING HOURS OF SILENCE (United Press Association) AUCKLAND, January 12. The clipper took off from Pago Pago harbour, American Samoa, at 4.32 o’clock this morning (New Zealand time) on the final stage of her southward flight from Honolulu and she was expected to arrive at Auckland late this afternoon. During the morning word was received at Auckland that the flying boat had turned back for Pago Pago because an oil leak had developed but after that there were several hours of disturbing silence. Officials of PanAmerican Airways in Auckland were standing by throughout the day but they received little in the way of wireless advice. The last radio message from the clipper was received approximately five hours after her departure, when it was announced that she was being headed back for Pago Pago, and during the afternoon the San Francisco office of the company announced that the flying boat was missing. However, Pan-Ameri-can Airways officials were reasonably confident that the Clipper had made a safe landing either in the Tongan group or in Western Samoa.

Neither passengers nor mails are being carried on the southward flight but there is a quantity of express freight on board.

The absence of wireless messages from the flying-boat is explained by the fact that radio equipment does not operate satisfactorily over long distances unless the machine is in flight.