EXPLOSION SHATTERS CRAFT NEAR PAGO PAGO

Southland Times, Issue 23407, 14 January 1938, Page 7

EXPLOSION SHATTERS CRAFT NEAR PAGO PAGO

SMALL FRAGMENTS RECOVERED BY SEARCHING VESSEL ADVERSE EFFECT ON TRANS-PACIFIC AVIATION FEARED The Pan-American Airways flying-boat, Samoan Clipper, has been wrecked and the lives of all seven members of the crew have been lost. It is . believed that a violent explosion in mid-air, when the clipper was only a few miles from Pago Pago (American Samoa), completely shattered the aircraft which is thought to have sunk in 1000 fathoms. A searching vessel, the American minesweeper, Avocet, found only fragments of wreckage and small pieces of burned clothing. An official statement says that the craft was never more than 75 miles from Pago Pago, and that the nearest part of the island was only 50 miles away when the course was changed. The clipper was making its first commercial flight down the Pacific from Honolulu to Auckland, and left Pago Pago early on Wednesday morning. Soon after its departure it reported the development of an oil leak, and the commander, Captain Edwin C. Musick, sent out a radio message that he was turning back to Pago Pago.

America, New Zealand and Australia are all deeply shocked by the first disaster to the clipper service since its inauguration in the Pacific, a disaster involving the death of one of the world’s greatest commercial pilots. Australian comment indicates fear that the loss of the clipper and its crew may mar the development of commercial aviation in the South Pacific.