LITTLE HOPE LEFT

Wairarapa Times-Age, 1 August 1938, Page 5

LITTLE HOPE LEFT

THE MISSING AMERICAN FLYING=BOAT SEARCHING SHIP FINDS OIL ON SEA FEARS THAT PLANE CRASHED AND SANK By Telegraph—Press Association. Copyright. NEW YORK, July 31. Virtually all hope has now. been abandoned for the Pan-American Airways’ flying-boat Hawaii Clipper, which is missing on a flight to Manila (Philippine Islands). The transport ship Meigs reported yesterday in a radio message to the War Department that she had found a patch of oil 1500 feet in circumference on the surface of the sea in latitude 12.11 north, longitude 130.33 east, which is near the spot where the Clipper last reported her position. The message from the transport to the War Department stated that samples of the water taken from the oil at the spot contained both petrol and lubricating. This message has increased fears that the deposit came from the Clipper because a steamship would be unlikely to leave a residue containing petrol. However,, it is pointed out that, even if it came from the Clipper, it did not necessarily prove that the plane had crashed and sunk, because it might have dumped both petrol and oil preparatory to a forced landing. Pan-American officials at Manila declared that the finding was “significant but inconclusive.” A later message from the Meigs reported that lifeboats (? lifebelts) had been found in the oil pool, but that gathering darkness made examination difficult.

The consensus of opinion now is that the plane is at the bottom of the ocean in one of the deepest spots in the vicinity of the Philippines, ranging to a depth of 5352 fathoms. A search near the spot where the oil was found will be made tomorrow morning, and if is then expected that 14 surface vessels will continue the hunt while airships fly over the islands’ forests, where there is a possibility that the Clipper may have “pancaked.” Naval officials estimate that the search is costing 4000 to 5000 dollars a day. The Clipper’s passengers include Major French, of the United States Al-my, Mf Wyman Curtis, vice-presi-dent of the Wright Aircraft Corporation, Mr Kennedy, division manager of Pan-American Airways, Dr McKinley, Dean of George Washington University Medical .School, and the United States Plant Pathologist, Mr F. C. Meier. Pan-American announced today that despite the feared disaster, all Clippers left on their regular passenger flights without the cancellation of a single passage. NEW AREA OF SEARCH PLANE HEARD AFTER LAST MESSAGE MANILA, July 30. , Five army bombers and one army transport this afternoon sped over ever—widening circles searching for the Clipper after failing to find any trace of it in the area of its last reported position. Three destroyers, several submarine tenders and a number of auxiliaries are racing to the scene. Two naval amphibians are ready* for flights along the coast. Meantime Pan-American Airways received a report indicating another scene for the search. This report came from a company employee on Lahuy Island, who said that he heard the plane three hours after its last message. The plane appeared to be flying over clouds in a westerly direction. Pan-American Airways said that this location was on the direct course of the plane.