The times-news. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1927-current, 1938-01-12
SAMOAN PLANE.
IS down At SEA.
With I ABOARD.
Clipper Said Sighted by
Native But Was in
Mass of Smoke
SEARCH ENTERS End
DAY; MUSICK PILOT

PACO PAGO, Tutuila Island,
Samoa, Jan. 12-(UPJ- The an
cient minesWeeper Av0cet and its
lone airplane today searched the
Pacific ocean south Of here for
the giant Samoan clipper missing
more than Is hours with its crew
Of seven aboard,
Officers Of the vessel believed
that all water where the flying
boat may have safely settled
would be covered by nightfall,
The clipper was commanded by
Captain Edwin Musick, greatest
air trail blazer of modern times.
No passengers were aboard the
plane which had been on the last
Jap of a new United States-New
Zealand route when it disappear
ed: The boat vanished shortly af-
ter 1t left Pago Pago and radioed
it had developed an oil leak anG
that it was turning back to Page
Page. 1t was believed to have set
tied on the surface of the water
within 80 miles of shore.
The plane was searched for un-
til dark yesterday and the Avo-
Gets plane was away at dawn
again today.
Pan American Always base Of
ficials frankly feared the plane
had sunk in the sea.
They believed that it exploded
when its gasoline cargo was
dumped to gain more speed or
altitude.
Ali along the chain of islands
where the Anyways has established
trans-Pacific bases, men of the
service awaited hopefully for
news. No clipper has ever before
been in difficulty
The boat ran into trouble at
D. m. (EST) yesterday but be-
cause of the remoteness of the
islands, difficulties of communl-
cation and differences in time,
nothing was learned in the Unit
ed States until last night.
It was considered significant
that nothing had been heard from
the planes emergency radio. If
Captain Musick landed safely on
water he would have Immediately
radioed the Always base.
The clipper took off from Page
Pago for Auckland, New Zealand,
carving the first load of air ex-
press from the United States to
the Antipodes. Late last month
it flew from Australasia to Hon.
olulu with airmail.
Besides Captain Muslck, the
crew members were:
Captain C. G. Sellers, first Of
ficer; P. S. Brunk, junior flight
officer; F. J. Mclean, navigator;
J. W. stickrod, first engineering
officer; ]. A. Brooks, assistant
engineering officer; and l. D.
Findley, radio operator.
A cable dispatch from Pago
Page said a native reported see
ing the clipper flying off the
western end of Tutuila IN a guam
tity of smoke. c
Captain Musick has flown l.
100000 miles and was ranking
pilot of the air line. he recently
pioneered the flights from Homo
lulu to New Zealand, the route
over which the clipper was flying
The plane is an SAB Sikorsky,
formerly used by Muslck in the
exploratory flights over Pan
Americans Oakland to Honolulu
route and later used for shuttle
service between Manila and Hong
Kong, at the end of the trans
Pacific line. o,no
The weather between Page
Pago and Auckland was talr at
the time OF last contact with me
clipper, a radio dispatch 10 tne
air line said. couo.
Page Page, in American oa ahiod
south of the equator, is the thlrd
station on the Honolulu-AuckIlaiha
route, which starts at Honolulu:
The second stop is at Klngman
Reef southwest of Honolulu