Spectacular Ditching Operation

PAA Clipper In History's Most Spectacular Ditching Operation

ANOTHER and even more ex traordinary sea-ditching feat than the rescue of Weil was carried out by another pilot during October when Captain Richard N.

Ogg, of Pan American Airways, landed his giant Strato-Clipper in the sea midway between Honolulu and San Francisco and was thus in strumental in saving the lives of his 24 passengers and six crew.

The Clipper developed trouble in two engines on the last leg of its journey; at the time it was near the weather ship November and Captain Ogg had to decide whscher to go on 1,000 miles to San Francisco and risk having to ditch far from aid before he made it; or stay near the weathei-ship and ditch when it became daylight. He decided on the latter course.

In the hours before the ditching, the crew instructed the passengers in the routine and in calmness and without panic they went down onto the sea shortly after 8 a.m. on October 16 (Australian date). The whole tail assembly broke off on im pact but within five minutes the weather ship was alongside, all passengers and crew were taken off safely, and within 20 minutes of the ditching the Clipper sank.

It was one of the most spectacular operations in trans-ocean com mercial aviation—carried through successfully through the calmness and skill of the crew.

It was Captain Ogg’s second emergency within six months. In April he was in command of the PAA Clipper which developed a de fect in its automatic pilot between Suva and Canton Island and put the aircraft so far off course that an emergency landing on the little used Faleolo airport in Western Samoa was necessary. The passeng ers were landed safely on that occasion also, although they were later taken off in a small aircraft while the crew flew the big Clipper on to Canton to pick them up.

Captain Ogg is described as a big, soft-spoken man who has flown across all major oceans many times, as well as commanding Pan Ameri

can Clippers on the company’s routes from the continental United States to Alaska.

He was born in Montana in November, 1913, and some of his early air experience was in that State flying specially trained parachutists (known as “smoke jumpers”) over forest fires.

While Captain Ogg did not jump himself, his piloting skill enabled him to orbit his aircraft in the most advantageous spot for the mass jump of the fire fighters.

Captain Ogg joined PAA in 1941 and was with them less than a year when Pearl Harbour was attacked and the company went on a war time basis, under contract to the US Navy.

After the war, he transferred to Pan American’s Atlantic Division and flew across that ocean for nearly four years. He then returned to the company’s Pacific-Alaska Division and made many Pacific crossings as commander of the big Strato Clippers. At the time of the ditch ing of Sovereign of the Skies he had logged more than 13,000 hours flying time.