Emergency Procedure

For Damaged

Sandringham

THERE was some excitement at the Port Moresby Marine Base on October 8 when a Qantas Sandringham, carrying eight pas sengers, made an emergency land ing. The aircraft, when landing at Lindenhafen, New Britain, tore a small hole in its hull on a reef.

After Lindenhafen the Sandring ham was scheduled to go on to other New Britain ports, back to Rabaul and then Port Moresby via Samarai. But at Lindenhafen, just as it had picked up two passengers, it was noticed that water was fill ing the hull. The pilot, Captain Bob Fairservice, immediately took off and headed direct for Port Mor esby.

He estimated that on take-off the Sandringham was carrying about 2i-tons of shipped water, and that it was lying a foot deep in the hull.

It was seeping into the carpet beneath the passengers’ feet. The water had gone by the time the Sandringham circled over Moresby, where two D.C.A. crash boats and a launch with pumping equipment, and one or two other boats stood by.

Captain Fairservice made a per fect landing, and taxied right up to the mooring buoy, where the pas sengers were taken off and arrange ments made to beach the Sand

ringham. None had ever been taken on to the ramp at Port Moresby be fore, but only a fortnight before the procedure had been arranged.

A truck from the Australian Pet roleum Company did the hauling, and the Sandringham was up and dry less than an hour after land ing. It returned to Sydney two days later.

11 Mr. and Mrs. Pat Costello, of Suva, Fiji, who were visitors to London during the Coronation, arrived in Melbourne by P & O liner at the end of October —just in time for the Melbourne Cup, which Mr.

Costello has not missed for many years. They returned to Fiji in mid-November after a brief visit to Sydney.