MISSING PLANE

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 260, 1 October 1940, Page 6

MISSING PLANE

MEN FROM OHAKEA.

LAST SEEN NEAR MOKAU.

Per Press Association. AUCKLAND, Sept. 30. Three members of the Royal New Zealand Air Force stationed at Ohakea are missing in an Airspeed Oxford monoplane which is believed to have been forced down in the Mokau district, north of New Plymouth, this af r ternoon. A machine, supposed to be the missing one, wa6 last seen flying in heavy mist-and rain near the coast, heading south in the direction of the white cliffs at Pukearuhe, and there had been no further trace of it up, to a late hour to-night. v The crew of the machine are:-Flying-Officer Harry Nalder Major, single, aged 29, son of the late Mr C. T. Major, former headmaster of King's College, Auckland. His next-of-kin is his sister, living at Tuakau. Flight-Sergeant Sheldon Benton Smith, single, aged 25, son of Mr and Mrs Henry Smith, of Frange Road, Mount Eden, Auckland. Corporal Raymond B. Smith, single, aged 23, whose next-of-kin is his sister, Mrs C. T. Morgan, of Miramar, Wellington. Flying-Officer Major was the pilot, being an instructor at Ohakea aerodrome, where his companions are members of the ground staff. All spent the week-end in Auckland and left Hobsonville air jbase at 11.45 a.m. Another aeroplane also set out and encountered j bad weather . and restricted visibility along the West Coast as they made south. Flying-Officer Major’s machine was some distance ahead when the other turned back and returned to Auckland, where it arrived safely. FLYING LOW. •_ An aeroplane answering the description of the missing Oxtord was seen at Mokau at about 1 p.m. It was flying south j. at a low altitude and according to ;a young man in the district it was \ apparently experiencing engine trouble, as the engine appeared to cut out. Later, it is reported, an aeroplane was observed flying northward and shortly afterward again making south. Itj seemed to be the same machine. It was last seen at about 1.30 p.m. just south of Tongaporutu, on the coast, 'midway between Mokau and New Plymouth. The machine was very lo>v, flying near the coast and heading south!in the direction of the white cliffs at! Pukearuhe. Inquiries made by the police at Mokau among jfarmers along the coast lailed to give! any indication of the whereabouts ot the aeroplane, which carried sufficient petrol for about five hours’ flying. A search is being conducted in the locality where the aeroplane was last I seen. Flight (Sergeant Smith was associated with the Air Force several years ago and later was employed as assistant ground engineer by Cook Strait Airways, Ltd. At | the outbreak of the war he was drafted from the Civil Reserve into the (Air Force as a ground engineer. 1 , Corporal Smith has been a member of the Air Force for two .years. SEARCH^HAMPERED. CONTINUED BAD WEATHER. Per Press \ Association! AUCKLAND, Oct. 1. • ' Three Airspeed Oxfords left Hobsonville air base at 6 o’clock this morning to search for the fliers missing in the Taranaki district. Owing to bad weather one machine returned to Auckland and the other two landed at New Plymouth. a \ Auckland planes will search the area north of New Plymouth, while planes from Ohakea will search the other areas.., The search will be continued as soon as the weather improves. A report received in Auckland state* that a plane which might have been the missing plane was seen over Paten at 2 o’clock yesterday afternoon.