SAFETY OF TASMAN FLYING-BOATS AGAIN QUESTIONED

Grey River Argus, 17 September 1948, Page 6

SAFETY OF TASMAN FLYING-BOATS AGAIN QUESTIONED

SYDNEY, Sept. 15.

“Misgivings are bound to be aroused by the turning back of yet another flying-boat which had set out to cross the Tasman,” says the Sydney Morning Herald, in a leader to-day. “This makes the fifth since the service was resumed in June. “The crossing, it is true, involves an unusually long flight, devoid of any sort of refuge, so that pilots very properly prefer to err on the side of caution by returning to the starting point at the first indication of trouble. J

“Even so, these incidents are too frequent for peace of mind. The suitability of these aircraft for the rough and lengthy Tasman crossing has already been seriously questioned. The New Zealand Director of Civil Aviation told a Royal Commission last month that there .was no reliable data available to show whether these machines possessed a sufficient margin of safety on three engines. Unless such doubts can be cleared up, there is a strong case for withdrawing these flying-boats from the service. “The crossing to New Zealand is, in some respects, one of the worst stages in Empire aviation and should be undertaken by the best aircraft obtainable. The exclusive use of the far faster and more modern land planes now providing part of the trans-Tasman service would seem to be the right remedy for the present unsatisfactory situation.” FURTHERDELAY AUCKLAND, Sept. 15. No west-bound trans-Tasman fly-ing-boat crossing will be made tomorrow because of the further-delay to RMA “New Zealand,” which was scheduled to make the trip to New Zealand and was still at Rose Bay for mechanical adjustment. The “New Zealand” will not return to Auckland till to-morrow. To make up for the delay, east and west-bound crossings will be made on