SLEPT WHILE PLANE FLEW TO DISASTER

Chronicle (Levin), 10 November 1947, Page 4

SLEPT WHILE PLANE FLEW TO DISASTER

Received Sunday, 7.30 p.m. NEW YORIv, Nov. S. The navigator of the flyingboat Bermuda Queen told the Civil Aeronautics Board inquiry today that he slept for nine hours ,as the aircraft roared into headwinds that eventually forced it down in mid-Atlantic on' October 14 with 69 aboard. The navigator, Addison Thompson, said members of the crew had not awakened him even when the airc-ratf eneountered ice and headwinds that should have indicated the need for the closest check on navigation." Thompson said he had gone to sleep becanse the sky was so overcast that he could not take starsights. He admitted under questioning that he had not tried to determine the aircraft 's position by radio triangulation although it had been in contact with two or three stations throughout the flight. Thompson said he was asleep when the Bermuda Queen passed the point of no return — the position beyond which it was impossible to return to the takeoff base — and when he awolte he plotted the position on the basis of the flight schedule made up before the aircraft left Ireland. The Bermuda Queen, however, had been slowed down to 68 miles an hour witkout hLs knowledge. He added that he learnt most pf his navigation in racing yaehts and his' only experien.ee in transoeean aerial navigation was on three previous Atlantic crossings. The captain of the Bermuda Queen, Charles Martin, a 26-year-old ex-navy pilot, said in evidence that he had not kept a systematie check on the petrol consumption during the flight. He disclosed that he had taken on two extra passengers without consulting the operators because there were infants among the passengers and they could not weigh much. Martin said he had taken off with a gross weight of 87,600 lbs. although he knew th.e regulations limited Boeing flyingboats to 84,000 lbs. When asked whether he would follow the same proeedure in future operations Martin replied: "I still think we did all right," Earlier in the hearing depositions were recorded alleging that Martin and all tke members of the crew ignored tke passengers after the landing and staved on the flight deck until rescue was certain.