NO SIGN YET

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 43, 13 May 1927, Page 11

NO SIGN YET

MISSING AVIATOR SEARCH FOR NUNGESSER LITTLE HOPE OF SAFETY NUNGESSER and his navigator, M. Coli, have not yet been found. It is reported that a plane which might have been theirs was heard flying over Newfoundland, but it was not sighted. A number of America’s foremost aviators are not over-sanguine regarding the fate of the missing Bp Coble.—Press Association. — Coppriplit Reed. 12.30 a.m. HARBOUR GRACE (N.F.L.) Thurs. Considerable verisimilitude is given to the reports that there is a possibility of Captain Nungesser’ plane having arrived on the American continent and crashed in an inaccessible forest stretch near here. In statements made to a magistrate by four or five responsible persons of this place they say that they heard the whirr of an airplane propellor on Monday morning, but were unable to see the machine because of the dense fog. It is held that since no other plane can be traced as having flown over the region in that time, there is some reason to believe that the machine was Nungesser’s. The wooded lowlands of this region are of such a nature, that only an extensive search could disclose the presence of the fliers. It is believed that the Newfoundland Government will order a party out to scour the area. The following aviation experts and others expressed opinions as to the probable fate of Captain Nungesser and M. Coli. Lieutenant Wade, the American world flier, said: “I prefer to believe they are still alive, but I realise that it is a slender hope. I fear that the floating ice and heavy winds caused the destruction of the plane.” Captain Robert Bartlett, the Polar explorer, said: “Silence for a month or even six weeks does not necessarily mean they have lost their lives.” Captain Depinemy said: “I believe they are stranded on some small island on this side of the Atlantic waiting for help.”

Commander Byrd said: “I believe their failure was due to engine trouble.

Captain Rene Fonck said: “The outlook is depressing but I hare not given up hope.”—A. and N.Z.

HOPE ABANDONED

DESPAIR IN FRANCE By Cable.—Press Association.—Copyright ' PARIS, Thursday. The French Naval Ministry has abandoned all hope of finding Captam Nungesser and his companions A high expert says: “We assume that the airmen were obliged to descend on to the Atlantic. Their airplane was not constructed to ride out rough weather, and if it did not go to the bottom of the sea immediately, it was probably crushed by the first large wave. “There is slight hope that the two men were picked up by a passing steamer.”

The captain of the liner France has been ordered to change that vessel’s course and follow the route Captain Nungesser is supposed to have taken to Newfoundland.—A. and N.Z.