in N. Guinea Jungle

Woman Pilot Down in N. Guinea Jungle

From Our Madang Correspondent MRS. PAT TOOLE, New Guinea’s only commercial woman pilot, crash-landed her Auster air craft one afternoon in June, on the only clear stretch of river bed in amongst hundred of miles of rugged, mountainous country.

Mrs. Toole crashed about 20 miles from Drekikir and 50 miles west of Wewak. This area is only just being brought under Adminis tration control.

She apparently lost her way in very bad weather. She flew over the remote patrol post of Drekikir for half an hour trying to find a place to set the aircraft down, then through a break in the clouds she sighted a dry, shingle area in the Om river, and managed to land the plane causing, what appeared from the air, only minor damage.

The discovery of Mrs. Toole was remarkable and can only be de scribed as a fluke. The District Commissioner of Wewak was flying in a Mandated Airlines Dragon air craft and happened to see Mrs.

Toole at the end of the dry stretch of river. Later, when well-known war-time and commercial pilot, Bobby Gibbes, and DCA officials flew over the area, they were un able to sight her.

When Mrs. Toole saw that she had been found, she spelled out a one-word message in stones using a piece of white laplap as a back ground. The message was FOOD.

After Mrs. Toole had been lo cated, three patrols set out to pro vide help. One patrol, in charge of Patrol Officer Macgregor, reached Mrs. Toole after 14 hours hard walking through thick jungle country. The patrol had to cut its own track over the last two miles in pitch darkness whilst torren tial rain was falling.

Mr. Bobby Gibbes later walked in to the plane in the hope that he will be able to fly it out. The plane is owned by Gibbes Sepik Airways and is based at Wewak for local flying.

Mrs. Pat Toole is an attractive young woman who accepts her un usual job very matter-of-factly.

She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. W. R. Graham of Kavieng.

She and Mr. Toole, who is Gibbes Sepik Airways representative at Wewak, were married at the be ginning of this year.

Women commercial pilots are un usual enough anywhere, but Mrs.

Toole is the only one to tackle the tough flying conditions of NG, and beat them, even to the extent of coping with the emergency she has just experienced.