HAWAII FLIGHT FAILS

Sun (Auckland), Volume 1, Issue 99, 18 July 1927, Page 9

HAWAII FLIGHT FAILS

FUEL RUNS SHORT A FORCED DESCENT By Cable. —Press Association. —Copyright HONOLULU, Saturday. The two American airmen, Mr. Ernest Smith, pilot, and Mr. Emery Bronte, navigator, who left Oakland, California, on Thursday morning in an attempt to fly to Honolulu and back had to make a forced descent yesterday morning on the island of Molokai, owing to sha*sß9 e Fuel. The airman sent out a wireless message explaining their plight. They had flown 1,000 miles m 21 hours 5 minutes. The time of their descent was 9.43 a.m. (Honolulu time). Neithei of the airmen was hurt although their monoplane. City of Oakland, crashed into a tree. FLIGHT THROUGH FOG The whole flight took place in fog, but the wireless worked perfectly with the exception of the receiving set, which tailed a short time before their arrival. Ship and shore stations both at Hawaii and in the United States received their signals from the start of the flight to near the fir’-ih. Messrs. Smith and Bronte arrived at Wheeler Field. 25 miles from Honolulu, last evening. MIRAGES OF LAND When the airmen reached Honolulu to-day they told an interesting story of the peculiar difficulties met with during the flight through fog. Constant mirages of land with distinct images of farm houses proved a torment. The failure cf the automatic petrol-feed compelled them to manipulate the hand-pump for many hours and the derangement of the petrol indicator made them fear their petrol would be depleted. Thereupon they sent out calls for help and prepared to land on the sea. They descended toward the surface, and just when they were near enough to see the water (which was their first sight of the ocean from the moment they had started), the plane suddenly spurted upward and they saw Molokai Island. There they crashed in the trees.—A. and N.Z.-Sun.