STILL NO TRACE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 3 October 1940, Page 6

STILL NO TRACE

MISSING AIR FORCE PLANE SEARCH BETWEEN MOKAU & MT. MESSENGER. LAND PARTY ORGANISED. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) NEW PLYMOUTH, October 2. No trace of the Air Force Airspeed Oxford missing between Mokau and Ohakea was found by searching planes today, but fresh information from Ahititi, just north of Mt. Messenger, has led to new developments in search plans.. Mr H. Rowe, Ahititi, heard a crashing sound in rugged country about 2 p.m. on Monday. After he had read reports of the disappearance of the plane he formed the opinion that it might have been the cause of the noise. Constable C. W. Powell was in -the area today and a search party is to be organised tomorrow. . In addition planes are to fly over the area, and to guide them to the locality a big sheet is to be stretched out. Civil air pilots tonight expressed the view that the area between Mokau and Mt. Messenger was a likely place to find the plane. Most of the search by air so far had been along the coast but they stated that the plane had not been identified after it left Mokau and that the pilot of the machine might easily have decided to take an inland line from Mokau to Ohakea, following his course by means of his instruments. If he had done so he would pass near where Mr Rowe heard the crash. Splendid visibility favoured the aerial search this afternoon. Planes had to cover an extremely wide area.