Crash Into Mountain; All Believed Dead

Chronicle (Levin), 6 September 1948, Page 5

Crash Into Mountain; All Believed Dead

(N.Z.PJL.-

-Reuterj

Copyright)

Received Bunday, 7 p.m. SYDNEY, JSept. 5. The burued out wreckage of a plane sighted yesterday- by a transport, - has been positively identified as that of the missing Australian National Airways airlineiv Lutana: A • man who reached the wfeckage on foot, reports Jinding a heap of "badly burned bodies in the nose oi' the plane. It is eonsidered unlikely that there are any survivors. Captain J. C. Paterson, the pilot of an East-West Airlines plane, sighted the wreckage while on *,a scheduled ftight from- Tainworth to Svdney and gave the position as high on the slope of Ben Evers, 4300 feet, 16 miles west of Quirindi. Air Force planes spbsequently switched to this area, confirmed that the wreckage was that of the missihg aircraft which apparently had down ipto the mountain at 150 miles an hoiir." ' Bix searck parties were immediately dispatched from Wallabadah and Nundle. Mr. Fred Golland, wlio re turned to base early today, reported tliat some members of his group had reached the wreck and IS nien, includ ing a doctor, wlio had not. yet arrived, u ould remain there all night. He said the plane was 'completely burned out« except for the tailpiece and a torn-ofi wing, and all the bodies, of which he thought there were 13, were jammed in the nose. The machine had cut a swathe through lieavy timber iess than 100 yards from the mountain top. The doctor will eount the bodies heforo seareh for possible survivors is aban doned. 1 Pilots say Ben Evers is not indicated on air maps as "spot lieight" although' the omission has frequently been reported. 4moiig the passengers aboard the Lutana was Mrs. W. K. Mclntyre, ot Launceston, the iirst woman to be elected tlie Tasmanian Parliament ^and on# tpf the best known women in AustralflR . Mrs. Mclntyre was elected a member of tlie Tasmanian Legislative Council in May of tliis year.' She is Acting^Federal Commissioner ' of the Girl Guide movement and has^ been the State Cdminissioner in Tasmania for maiiy yrears. It is revealed that the pilot (Captain .T. Drummond) stated by radio telephono that at 6.59 p.m, the plane was carrying a lieavy load of ice. He souglit and received perniission to descend from 8000 feet to 6000 feet,"" At 7.53 p.m, tlie plane radioed its position as being over Williamstown, 87 miles nortli of Sydney, at 6000, feet. He had prepared to descend to 4000 feet reafly to make a norma! Janding approach along a beam. At 8.12 p.m. the plane i-liecked with Mascot aerodronie, Syd nev, indicating that all was well, aftei which nothing' was heard.