PLANE SIGHTS LIFERAFT

Chronicle (Levin), 21 January 1949, Page 5

PLANE SIGHTS LIFERAFT

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Hope Renewed For Survivors From Lost Airliner

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Received Friday, 10.30 a.m. HAMILTON (Bermuda), Jan. 20. A United Scates 'Air Force Fiymg Fortress sighted what appeared to be a liferaft before dawn today in the area southwest of Bermuda, where the British airliner Star' Ariel vanished on Monday with 20 persons aboard, aecording to reports from Coastguard headquarters at Miami, Florida. A United States destroyer and a large number of rescue planes are converging. on the scene. The Bermuda Assembiy today engaged in a bitter debate over the., missing plane, many representa- : tives charging that 'the operations of British-South American Airways were d'amaging Bermuda's tourist business. . One member said; "It is about time the; company was kicked- out. If the British Government is prepared to allow . faulty planes to operate, then it is -up to iis to stop them." In London today, the ..Ministry of Civil Aviation invited Lprd Braoazon, president of the Interiia-. tional Aeronautical Federatibu; to take charge of the ihvestigation which will inqiiire into the design, construction, safety and girworthiness of Tudor IV airiiners. The ihqiiiry was ordered after the disap-. pearance of the Star Ariel, - Earlier it was reported ' that planes searching foi* the Star Ariel spotted a silver object and yellow „ierait. However, the planes were unable tb locate the objeets again when they circled. The crews ^aid they saw the silver object 180 miles southwest of Hamilton and the liferaft 320 miles south- southwest of Hamilton.