GRIM RELICS IN DESERT

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 644, 22 April 1929, Page 1

GRIM RELICS IN DESERT

Body Beneath Wing of Plane

HAD TRIED TO MAKE RUNWAY

No Trace of the Mechanic DEAD beneath a wing- of his plane, his face blackened by the dreadful desert heat, lies Lieutenant Keith Anderson. Whither his companion, Mr. Hitchcock, has wandered is a mystery that the wilderness still grimly guards. The airman who found the Kookaburra yesterday says the mechanic was nowhere to be seen. The meagre facts at present known indicate a story dreadfully tragic. The plane, its engine uncowled, sits at the end of a charred clearing apparently made by the airmen. There are signs that the flyers tried to clear a runway for it to take off. What happened then can only be a subject of horrid conjecture. Probably the scorching heat, and hunger and thirst, forced them to abandon the task; perhaps they agreed that Anderson wait by the plane while Hitchcock wandered away in a last desperate quest for assistance. The silent, ruthless desert may hold some story of unexampled heroism and sacrifice; but at present it looks as though that story will never be told.

i United P.A.—By Telegraph — Copyright) Reed. Noon. SYDNEY, To-day. The airplane Kookaburra, in which Lieutenant Keith Anderson and his mechanic, im". R. S. Hitchcock, have been missing for 11 days, was discovpred in the desert yesterday by Pilot Brain, one of the aviators who had been searching for the two men in the N’orthern Territory.

A dead man was seen under one wing. He is believed to be Lieutenant Anderson. The other man is still missing. Pilot Brain is attached to Quantas Airways, Ltd., of Queensland. A message from Brisbane says Brain, who was flying in the airplane Atlanta, sent a message to-night saying he had found the Kookaburra iu the desert

about 80 miles w r est by north of Powell’s Creek. He circled low and one man w*as seen lying under one of the wings. He looked like Anderson. Evidently he had been dead for several days, as he was black in the face. There was no sign cf the other man. Brain was unable to land owing to the rough nature of the country. A fire which presumably had been started by the airmen had caused bush fires clearing 10 miles of scrub. There were indications that the Kookaburra had landed owing to engine trouble. The cowl of the engine had been removed, and attempts made to clear a runway for a take-off. The plane appeared to be undamaged. It was standing at the east end of a large patch of ground which had been largely burned off and w'as still smoking. The place is 200 miles north of the route he was supposed to take. A

I compass error would account for this. Brain searched for an hour for ! Hitchcock, aud dropped a cau of w ater I attached to a small parachute. Pack horses with a party of black trackers were setting out from Wave Hill without delay. Brain suggested that other airmen should join him in the search .for Hitchcock.

! Lieutenant Anderson and Mr. Hitchcock were last seen on Wednesday, April 10, in their airplane Kookaburra, at Woodford, 100 miles north-west of Alice Springs, Northern Territory, on the w r ay to Wydnham to aid in the search then proceeding for the Southern Cross. The crew of the latter spent a few hours in the air yesterday. They searched an area of 50 miles northeast of the Port George IV. mission station and the country en route to Wyndhani. without finding the slightest trace of the missing men. An organised search by pilots in several airplanes of the West Australian and Queensland Airways Companies, and by others in Royal Australian Air Force machines, has been proceeding from a base in Central Australia. Reports state that some of the country searched is desert with an entire absence of water. The heat is terrific below 3,000 ft. The Air Board has instructed five Air Force machines to proceed in search of Hitchcock. It will take several days to organise a proper ground expedition. The air liner Canberra, with Dr. Hamilton aboard, will fly to the nearest landing ground, and the doctor will be motored if possible to the Kookaburra. Leaving Alice Springs, the Kookaburra carried only three bottles of ! water and a packet of sandwiches. . ; SERIOUS DISREPAIR SOUTHERN CROSS WINGS IN SAD CONDITION VALVE LEAKING BADLY (United Service) fCopyright Throughout World.) Reed. 11 a.m. SYDNEY, To-day. | Flight-Lieutenant C. T. P. Ulm | states that the Southern Cross is fall- ! ing into a serious state of disrepair. The main tank sump valve is leaking badly as a result of the monoplane’s exposure. The wings are In a sad condition, almost dangerous. The monoplane may have to return to Sydney.