AN AERIAL DRAMA

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 75, Issue 270, 15 November 1932, Page 5

AN AERIAL DRAMA

PILOTS TRAPPED BY FOG I hESOUKCE SAVES THEM. SAX DIEGO, November 2. i A thrilling drama was played in the I Lir when 22 United States Navy aere- • planes were “stranded aloft” by a sudden fog. Happily it ended without loss of life, though the loss of machines was serious. Bolling in from the Pacific, the fog enveloped all Southern California. The land was blotted out before the pilots realised what had happened, and for hours they circled aimlessly with their petrol supplies steadily diminishing. Finally all landed, without any fatalities, though five aeroplanes were smashed up or burnt. Naval officials quickly broadcast a plea, and the citizens ranged their lighted motor-cars in huge circles around the land fields. Several aeroplanes were thus enabled successfully to descend. At last th e night mail aeroplane from Los Angeles, equipped with a radio telephone, arrived. It circled the city until its pilot picked up the three last remaining Navy aeroplanes. Signalling them, “Follow me!” with his cabin lights, he led them safely earthward amid the cheering of thousands of anxious citizens.