ARDUOUS TASK OF MOUNTAIN PARTIES

Chronicle (Levin), 1 November 1948, Page 5

ARDUOUS TASK OF MOUNTAIN PARTIES

. NEW PLYMOUTH, Oct. 31, Taken from in and around the tangled mass of spiintered metal which was the fuselage of the Lockheed Electra, Kaka, the remains of 12 victims of the disaster were hauled and carried down Mt. Ruapehu over snow and rock, to the base camp at the foot of the Mangaturuturu glacier on Saturday and one of the most Ardous searches in the history of Hew 2ealand aviation, reached its final stages. One passenger, Mr. Mumford, of England, was not recovered but the remaining 10 passengers and crew of two, were found and identified.

Lashed to- canvas stretchers and wrapped in parachutes, blankets and articles of cTothing, the bodies were manhandled up steep slopes and down precipitous roeky cliffs and by the thne they were relieved within three miles of the base camp, many of the bearers were exhausted. The wreckage of the. Electra lies near the bottom' of a 200-foot deep snow gully on the western side of Mt. Ruapehu some 2000 feet from the peak. , Elying north, the macliine apparently crashed into a roeky wall half way up the gully and Ihe port wing and motor were embedded in the snow near that point. The fuselage and remaining wing then hurtled back to the floor of the valley where the^y lie at prosent. A eowling was toru off and remains on the side of the gully about half way down from the point of impact.

Apparently because of the heavy snow falls sinee the Kaka was lost, tliero is no traee of niarks in the 100 feet or so of snow between the port wing- and the rest of the machine. The Kaka lies where it eanie to a stop and snow has obliterated the deep grooves it must have earved when it crashed down the hillside. Snow around the aircraft oh Saturday was seattered with the personal effects of the 13 victims flung out by the force of the crash, tlown out by the wind to lie half buried ih the snow or removed by searchers as they combed the wreckage. As the searchers approached the wreck a magazine lying in the snow with its pages flapping and a handbag almost completely eoncealed, brought home the perSOfikl aspect of the search and what until then had been merely a job alid an arduous one became sbmething different. The realisation that men and women had died in the machine, that they had been re&ding magazines, changed the whole aspect of the search for ihdividual members of the parties. A small bag containing caref ully f olded child 's clothiiig and perSonal effects and luggage, made the point far stronger than the remains which were carried down the mountain Side. The buckled and skewed twin tail of the machine was the least affoctcd part of Ihe fuselage. The cabin and eoekpit were an im))ac1el^1elescoped maze of twisted duralium so that the first men 011 ihe scone were forced to use a tomahawk to hack access to the inl crior. The search party members were convineed that the death of hoth crew and passengers must have been instantaneoUs as the Kaka plunged into the hillside at a speed said by a man who had seen the airspeed indicator, to be 150 miles an hour. In 1 lio cahin, the indicator reqtiestmg passengers to pitt their sal'eiy liclls on. was up. Manv of the victims were still fastened to 1hcir scals and others who had hecn flung from their positions ln 1lie iinpact . still had their belts, and in some eases seats, huekle* around tliem. Most of the victims were found inside some portionoi' ihe mae.hino hut Ihe eo-pilot. Mr. 11. C. Russell, was bufied in'thb snow uuderneatli the starhoard wing of the rnaehine which remained atlaehed to the fuselage. A man and woman were found in the snow under the rear of Ihe rnaehine.

Arduous Cliinbing Tlio first party to refieh the plane lt'l'l llic !»:is(» fiunp at fi a.ni. on .Saturday and were i'ollowed an hour later iiy jni'.'llier band. Tiie route takou was up 1 ln' steep ridge to tlu* north of tlu; .Mangaturuturu glacier via Lake Surprise, and along a roeky trail to the suou iine. At'lor about a niile of rougli irautping through snow and rock, the partv i-nine to a point at which the wreek eould be clearly seen but probahiv ihe worst part of the climb was stili iieiore tliem. A nuatl.i'r of the first party renuiined at tliis point while others went on up 1 lie steep snow banks and ridges to a point adjai-eiu the wreck. Snow coni i I inns wero icy, it being necessarv to out sleps and most of the party who %\ere not fullv equipped for snow oouiit ry, found the travel difticult and exlutusl ing. Tiie last step in the journev was down t lie I'Oiift gully in which the plane was lying atid the steepness of the hillside iasuie it an ap])rehensive descent toi 1 lio-e unused to mountaineering as they j)io Ked their way down steps made by the letiders. was .Mr. A. Mo.ss who arrived at about 9. I ."> a.m. and was closely followed by .Messrs. J. P.riggs, 31. Bergerson and L5. Davis. Other searchers followed pei iodieally and at about tliis time, a secoud partv which left the base camp an hour later than the leaders, came up 1o ihe observation point a niile or so baok from the aircraft. Here, about 3b men from both parties who were uneertain wliether they could complete the trip, gathered. Seven men from the second party. including Wing Commaiuler K. Keun, Air Department investigator uf air accidents, roped and set off up the steep slope on. the lasl stage of the journey. They had not gone far when Wing Commander Kean, not a young man reaiisi d tlmt al'ter the gruelling climb from Ihe base camp, lie would not be alde to complete the trip. Ile gavc in--tiuc tions on procedure to be given to tiie police who were at the scene of the erasli, and returned to the observation jioinl aecompanied by Constable Jt. (rardner who weiit on to Ihe aircraft lal er. Stretchers Dropped

The remaining memUers of the roped party went on and were descending to the wri'i'k just as stretchers were dropped from Harvard aeroplanes by parachutes. The bodies were being removcd ;i n (T identified as they reached ihe scene and shoftlv at'tel'wards the tii-st bearers earrying the child Collinge, left to descent to the base by the .Mangaturuturu glacier over much easier eountry than that traversed on the way u]>. Cartage over this route was gruelling in the extreme — if it had been hecessarv to return by way of the ascent it would have been well nigh impossible. As the bodies were retrieved from the aircraft and identified from the contents of their pockets and belongings,

hy the police, they were lashed to flimsy canvas stretchers and taken over hy groups of from four to five hearer.i who coinmenced to drag them out of the gully and down the southern side of the glacier. With several steep ascents aird a stream to cross, the route to the snowline was difticult enough, the bear ets slipping and sliding in the deep snow as they hauled the stretchers hy fopes and straps. Their hardships wero increasbd a . hundredfold, however, when they reached the edge of the snow and had to carry the bodies off the ground. The fragility of the stretchers was a mattet for many complaints and in a, nurnher of cases they had fallen to pieces before the snowline was reached. One party, whose stretche" Was no more than a shred of canvas, Struggled vainly to carry their load over the rocks hut had travelled no more thaii about 100 yards in three-quarters of an hour and were giving up hope when they managed to horrow a parachute from a party passing them. Wrap ping their hurden in this, they made better progress.

Several steep and slipperv bluff s seattered with loose stones, were tlu worst obstacles met by the bearers whu were forced to lower the bodies the liesi way they could. One or two men would sedure a foothold a Httle way down a bltifT and grasp the load as their com panions lowered it to them. They would hold it as well as they could until they, in turn, eould lower it to the others who had moved down further. After the first carriers with tlu. child reached the base camp at about 12.40 p.m., relief parties set off up the valley to talte over from those earrying heavier loads. 3Iost of the bearers were met by Soldiers and other inen froin the base carnj) within about three miles from camp and as niany were rapidly nearing an exhausted state. After transferring their liurdens the bearers walked ahead to camp where tea and food were waiting for them. Operations continued throughout the afternoon and the last body was brOught lilto oase camp eariy m tne evening. The task performed by the bearers, itiany of whoin Were no more than 16 years, was a pafticularly fine one. At times during the most diffidult stages of the trip down the mountain, they grumbled and declared that they would have to give up and leave their load half-way down the mountain for men from the base camp to pick up, but never at any time did they take themSSlves seriously ahd their spirit remained uhsubdufed until they were relieved.