INTENSIVE SEARCH FOR MISSING PLANE

Stratford Evening Post, Volume I, Issue 90, 25 March 1931, Page 5

INTENSIVE SEARCH FOR MISSING PLANE

WELL-EQUIPPED MACHINE TO JOIN DOCTOR AND WIRELESS TO BE'CARRIED LAST AVAILABLE PLANE TO GO ALSO ; (Reed. 8.50 a.m.) SYDNEY, This Day. Up to a late hour there was no word of thfr Southern Cloud. Arrangement* have been made for the Southern be taken off tho Brlsbahe-Sydney service to Join In the search, i This plane will •be equipped with medical supplied, and 1 wireless receiving and transmitting apparatus. A doctor will be’"carried and the machine will makAan intensive search of the areas not Already scoured. The Southern SKy/which, is the last available machinfe' pf the company, will also join in the search. SEARCH SO FAR FRUITLESS MOST CLUE ' Press Association. —Copyright. (Recti.. 9-25 a.m.) VgYDIfEY, This Day. The search for the Southern Cloud thus fur has been, fruitless, but congtlnues To-day*, all available, planes being used for .an intensified combing of the mountainous, areas of northwestern Victoria .and, south-western New South Wales. -The most definite clue Is that provided by Ranger Sphrgo and Constable McMillan, who report that white objects seen oh the slopes of Mount Hewitt. McMillan with an experienced bushman expects ,to reach the spot this Jjtaraooa. Tbs, country I. extremely ' * _ SEARCHERS .OUT ALL NIGHT -n . HIGH PEAKS CLIMBED ■a ' '■ MELBOURNE, March 24. Searchers who - ware out in the Mils all night failed to find any trace of the missing Southern Cloud. Many men, -mounted on . horseback, and accompanie«th by dogs, climbed the highest peaks of the Strathbogie Ranges in the hope of observing flares or fire signals. They met with no success, Air Commodore JJingsford Smith, in the Southermi‘Suty.tfeft<-Hoibrook and searched over 1 this' Strirthbogie Ranges and . Yea distriiff]' flying more than 300 uiiles and finding Tkf trace of the missing linar.. AIV went out from Essemion aerddrbrtih again this* morning, but dense~«Si6uda bampcrcu the

search. Large-parfies left Yea by car oh foot to sftffrch the Flowerdale district. There is plenty of ground for tiktsh men to cdver which cannot be obttrved closely'from the air. The country abounds ih' deep' ravines which are densely timbered, and it would be impossible to see the ground through the branches from a 'plane. Air Force 'and civil 'planes are working on a definite plan and are systematically combing a large area comprising the most rugged country in the *hble State. A report has been received that a c«feh waff heard in tall timber near Thornton on - Sngarloaf Moun-

iain. The crash whs heard about 5.15 'p.m. on Saturday afternoon, and Mr. Alfred Post gave details of how he heard the drone of the Southern Cloud engines, indicating tnat it was very close. /. ; *} Then there' was a tremendous crAfcJ* he proceeded, ** and from the sou9| I thought the ’plane had come dowSon the. edge of the Rubicon forest. A farmer (tt Kingslake has reported that he saw a flare in'that locality on Saturday night. Residents of northeast ■ Victoria, who saw the Southern Cloud on Saturday'-battling with the storm, are confident that- the machine lost its bearings; The Tallangatta postmaster reports that residents saw the air liner over Mullens about four, and heard the roar of her engines ■' which were out. They think the ’plane vyas- forced down between Eskdale and Bqgong on the high plains. A. Pilot’a Report, All the searching pianos are carrying compressed food rations and medical equipment which, they will drop by means of snia!( parachutes should the missing machine be found. Most pilots believe the airliner to be down in thp, Kfnglake district. The search was '.intensified in that region, but what waff regarded as the first definite information whs received at Es-

sendoh. Mr E, FStzallen, an Aero Club pilot, stated’'that he 'Was fishing at Eildon Weir abtftifc' five on Saturday afternoon and'"heard the Son them Cloud well. '•» • 1 Kingsford Smith, ’in the Southern Sun, left Esßen'don ,|, at 4.15 p.m. for Eldon Weir With Pilot Pitzallen, tho actress,. Mis* Bertha Ricardo, wife of Mr' Clyde Hood, one of the passengers in the misaiag plane; and two observers., Eildon Weir ’is situated at the foot of the. Sngarleaf Mountains 60 miles north east of Melbourne. The Hart pf Hart Aviation Company said that, haying worked out the petrol consumption ol : the Southern Cloud since it left ascot on Saturday, and compared it with the times when the machine was’last reported, they believe it a possibility that the machine flew out to sea in the A search of the coast, however, failed to reveal anything. ;... .'A BRISBANE AIR MAIL, * SYDNEY, March 24. Mr. L. Brain, chief pilot of the Quantas, brought the ISrisDuno air mail to Sydnev fo-drty' there being no Australian Nfttibnn’r Airways machine on service. inclined belief

Pilot Shortridge, who is a very skilful pilot, put the machine down somewhere without serious injuries to tho passengers.” he said. “,It is likely that he found a way to the coast, landed on a quiet beach somewhere or tho other.” Sydney aviation experts are inclined to believe that Pilot Shortridge may have landed on the beach. WHITE ON THE MOUNTAINS MELBOURNE, March 24. About twenty-five planes are now saerching. The weather conditions are bad. A significant report came this afternoon, Mr Spargo, a ranger on Mount Hotham said he could see two white objects on the side of Mount, Howitt, some miles away. Prom Constable McMillan, of Omco, a similar report was received. Both state the objects were not. there some days ago. McMillan *s setting out with experienced bushmen and expects to reach the objects tomorrow afternoon. Mr Spargo reported that the object*ho saw appeared to be a wing of a plane. To the naked eye it looked a yard square and was shining in the sun. Ulm and Holden arrived at Essendon at five. Tho latter intends going out in the Southern Star immediately to investigate.