Evening star., 1933-04-04
MT. EVEREST PLANE
FALLS NEAR PEAK
Shortage of Fuel Reported
to Have Forced Land
ing.
Continued From First Page.)

and the hope that the haze would SUBJ
side led to the decision to make the at
tempt at once.
Climb 10000 Feet.
The planes climbed steeply. and in a
ieW minutes were lost to sight In the
maze. thereafter no word was heard
Oh them Tor three hours. During this
period they climbed through 3 miles
OF haze. travelled a double journey of
ioo miles and reached a maximum
height approximating 10000 feet di-
fectly over the crest of Everest itself.
was particularly impressed by the
enormous size of the glaciers" said
Bonnet. They are vastly bigger than
any ever saw in Switzerland. There
are many tremendous precipices apart
from the north ridge. Some Of them
are absolutely perpendicular for thou
sands of feet
The scenery was magnificent almost
beyond description, and all who took
part were impressed by the enormous
size OF the mountains and by the ex-
traordinary visibility which permitted
ern horizon.
Col. Blacker said on his return that
the only limit to the view along the
mountains was due to the curvature of
the earth surface. The stupendous
scale of the scenery and the clear aiS
upset the estimated size Of the distanrA
Bonnet confessed that he could not tell
how far or near things were.
Planes Drawn Down.
The flight proceeded without incident
until the great massive Chamlang was
approached. Climbing over the huge
edge both machines received the fun
force OF the down-draught caused by
the wind from the west striking the
steep side OF Mount Everest, being shot
upward over the summit and recovering
IN a steady downward sweep some u
miles beyond. Caught in this. some
thing Ike 1000 feet in height was lost
IN very few seconds. The machines
at this time were quite close to the
mountain side and the pilots were ready
to turn away If necessary, but they
found they were getting across down
Just enough height to get Safely over
they continued and crept over the ridge
with little room to spare
InlS was the last serious air disturb
ance they encountered on the Wav M
over the summit of Mount Everest
there was strong wind blowing, though
less than earlier in the morning, when
Violent gusts could be seen driving a
snow plume high into the air OF the
crest.
Summit Circled Twice. 49,.
The machines made two complete
circuits OF the summit, occasionally
banking steeply to give the photo
grapners good chances to take obliuue
views. After Is minutes both turned
,, away. 1t was at this point that Lieut..
Mcintyre missed Bonnet, who pre-
viously had been standing with his
head and shoulders above the cockpit
using the camera.
until the machine had descended to
Is 900 feet, by which time he was fast
recovering.
So surprising was the sight over the
mountain tops that neither pilot was
prepared after this short fight to de-
fine the nature of the country or to ex-
press an opinion as to gaps or inaccu-
racies in existing maps. st
~ Second Flight Likely.
II the survey cameras between them
can produce a complete mosaic of the
country flown over, details win be
available. This Is thought unlikely and
If permission can be obtained from the
Nepal for second fight it certainly
will be made.
Capt. Bennett, physician attached to
the expedition, examined Bonnet to
see If he had suffered any serious harm
from his mishap. He found Bonnet
still shaken, but this was ALL Bonnet
described the break In the tube.
"The spiral armor had pulled out
near the connection" he said, "and no
oxygen was reaching my mask After
had tied my handkerchief around the
break and we had started down fast
soon began to- recover
Pilots Show No Strain.
Capt. Bonnet also examined the
others who made the fight The pilots
showed no sign Of strain. Mcintyre
said that his mask had come un-
| fastened for short period while he
was flying over the summit and that he
had replaced it with some difficulty.
Col. L. ". S. Blacker, who flew as OBJ
server in the plane piloted by Lord
Clydesdale, was pale and tired after the
fight, but not suffering from ex-
haustion. ..r
Numerous letters were carried over
the summit in Lieut.. McIntyre's plane.
| They bear special cancellation stamps
and they are being sent out Of India
by airman Included are letters to
King George, the Prince Of Wales and
Lady Houston, the backer of the fight.