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[?]Ut By Air

After a MG Kon Tiki Effort Failed

)LANS to bring out an ill-fated Cessna 170 A which crashed in November, 1956, in wild New uinea country, by pontoon down le roaring Ramu River would, if iccessful, have proved to be the ■eatest Kon Tiki expedition of all nes. But it didn’t come off.

The plane, owned by Crowley irways Ltd., had been in the jrritory only three weeks, and as on a flight from Madang to ount Hagen when engine trouble iveloped.

The pilot, Keith Mullen, crash nded the plane on the banks of small river in the Jimmi Gap area, ter signalling his position to CA, and other aircraft in the ea.

His signals were picked up and rescue party was quickly flown Faita, from where, after a couple iys of hacking out a path, they liked in and picked up the pilot. . the meantime, storpedoes con ining supplies and mosquito nets id been dropped.

The plane had turned over on i back and was badly damaged it the pilot was unhurt.

Mr. Crowley then conceived the ea of building a pontoon and lating the plane down the river, ter much planning and hard >rk the monster contraption was mplete. It was large enough to r e in, equipped with shelter, floats id wheels —the latter for when ndbanks were encountered so the ntoon could be wheeled across.

It was dismantled, flown to Gusap id launched. Steady progress was ade for a while, but the tortuous nds and swiftly flowing river on made it impossible to handle e pontoon, and the venture was andoned.

The plane was later dismantled on the spot, and a track cut and bridges built to enable carriers to walk in and bring the plane out 40 “ Ues to rri Falte Ut i n here ay ft “Ts stored in a shed until such time S taL a a S DC P 3 WaS ‘ n " C ° ndltion Then a Mandated Airlines DC3 ?e e turAed r it e to La?.' 6d “ UP and

t Thp mpn r»f wivtm'zg j a o/ * ma< *r d pr f sent °* £37 to a 14-year-old Rarotonga girl whose leg was seri- Rarotonga when the ship was open

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The Cessna back in Lae.