A TERRIBLE NIGHT

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 86, 2 July 1927, Page 1

A TERRIBLE NIGHT

AIRMEN LOST NEAR PARIS By Cable.—Press Association.—Copyright Reed. 10 a.m. LONDON, Friday. Byrd and Noville were cheerful when interviewed. They inquired their whereabouts. They had a terrible night. Half of the time they had not the slightest idea of their location. Their companions, Mr. Bert Acosta and Lieut. Bert Balchen, are also at the lighthouse. They said that the America was over Paris at 2 o’clock in the morning, but thereafter they were utterly lost. The villagers at Ver-sur-Mer heard the airplane, but made no investigations. The airmen superintended the arrangements made for the safety of their plane before they would consent to eat or sleep. Commander Byrd has cleared up the conflict of opinion as to how they escaped. He said: “We endeavoured to land on a sandy coast, but the wheels of our plane collapsed in the sand. We therefore skimmed seaward and alighted in the water. We got out our collapsible boat, in which we paddled to the shore.” A later message explains that Byrd, and his companions used a rubber canoe to reach the shore. After leaving the plane they woke up the lighthouse keeper, who collected sailors and enabled the party to salvage the airplane.—A. and N.Z.