Sandbank

Lucky Landing On A

“Flying Doctor's” Escape In New Guinea

Wewak, Nov. 3.

HERE, although we have a “flying doctor,” Dr. Mclnerney, and a “flying bishop,” and both are much in the air, we have “kept our record clean.” There have been no serious accidents. But we got a bad fright on October 27-28. Our “flying doctor” was missing.

On October 27, Dr. Mclnerney, in an Auster plane belonging to Gibbs Sepik Airways, and in the care of experienced Pilot A. Clare, left Aitape for Lumi, to visit the native hospital there. Soon after taking off, they were completely enveloped in clouds and rain.

For two hours they circled around try ing to evade the mountain-tops and groping for a way out. Finally, a short break in the cloud showed them a huge sandbank in the Om River, With almost his last drop of petrol the pilot got the plane down in an almost perfect landing.

A log knocked a wheel off and damaged the propeller.

Among the cargo of the plane was a bag of peanuts, a bag of sugar and a little pig. They resisted the temptation to kill the pig, but they ate peanuts and sugar and, after a march of 18 hours, they arrived at Aitape, The only casualties of the crash (the first in the pilot’s 15 years of flying) were:— The doctor was painfully stung by a wasp. The pilot had sore feet, after hav ing worn out his shoes in the long tramp.

Everyone in Wewak was very relieved when they learned that it was a “lucky crash.”

The plane had been reported leaving Aitape, and was then “missing” from Thursday, 27th, until a runner arrived at Aitape.