Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-11-28
MAIL PILOT SAVES
PLANE IN FOG FEAT
Jameson Lands on Hillside
in South Carolina After
6-Hour Maneuver.

Caught in a dense fog which closed
in over field after field as he attempted
to get to the ground safely, Leland S.
Jameson, Eastern Air Transport pilot on
the Richnond-Atlanta run, today saved
his life by daring forced landing, with
a heavy load of mail, on a terraced
hillside farm between Spartanburg and
Anderson, S. G. He damaged a part
of his landing gear, but escaped without
injury or damage to his cargo.
Jameson, whose brother, W. Law
renee Jameson, is a mail pilot on the
run through the Capital from Rich
mond to New York, was in the air
nearly hours and his gasoline was
nearly exhausted when he finally
landed. But for chance opening in
the fog which revealed the mountainside
farm, he would have been forced within
few moments to abandon his plane
and take to his parachute to save his
life.
Tries Hop to Atlanta.
Taking of from Richmond with the
southbound airmail this morning jamie
son was forced down at Spartanburg,
S. c., where he waited two hours for
break in the fog. Finally he received
was fairly clear but that an intermedi-
ate stop at Greenville was logged in
tight. He resolved to make the jump to
Atlanta, passing up Greenville.
Arriving over Atlanta, Jameson found
the field shut of beneath a solid mass
Of fog which had rolled in since the
weather report. For some time he cir
cled, picking up airway weather broad
casts from the various airways radiat-
ing out of Atlanta.
Finally there came a report that
Spartanburg, which a few minutes after
his departure had again logged in, was
once more clear, with ceiling of $500
feet. He turned back to Spartanburg
and only three minutes from the field,
received another report that the ceiling
was down to $50 feet.
Confident that he would be able to
get into the field with a clear space
OF $50 feet between the bottom of the
clouds and tie ground, Jameson started
down through the mist and rnurk for
the ground, but was pulled up short by
an emergency radio message that the
fog had settled down solidiy again.
banking out the field.
Once more Jameson climbed above
the fog, hoping for radio report of an
open space within reach with his dWin-
ding fuel supply. He had been up 5
hours and 40 minutes and had about
20 minutes supply left when he re-
ceived a report that Anderson, S. c.,
was clear
Headed for Anderson.
He headed for Anderson, fearing that
his fuel supply would fail before he got
there. Finally, with only a minute or
two left in his tanks he saw a small
break in the fog, with a steep hillside
farm, terraced to prevent rain washing
the whole farm off the mountainside.
Jameson made one pass at the larg-
est of the terraced strips, but it was
too small and he was forced to turn
back and try again before ne dared
set the fast little plane down He was
forced to land in curving line as the
terrace circled the hillside and the
strain of the lan6ing on uneven ground,
coupled with the side thrust of the
turn, was too much for the landing
gear, which gave way, piling the plane
up on the hillside
Making certain that his mail was
cafe, Jameson made his way to a tele-
phone and asked for assistance in get
ting his cargo out to the nearest rail-
road. He reported that he would be
ready to fly his next regular turn.