Evening star., 1943-01-21
Mile Runway S|ashed
In Jungle 10 Free
Lost u. ). Bomber
More Than 100 Natives
Labor ; Weeks to Free
Plane in BruziI
BY LEON PEARSON.


The story can now be told OF
how B24 bomber, being ferrieo
to fighting front in Africa, crashed
In the Brazilian wilderness and
| later was salvaged by hewing a
mile-long runway out of that will
| derness.
Maj Gen. Harold l.. George and
his Air Transport Command are
very hush-hush about their flights
via Brazil to Africa and beyond,
but this story has been cleared be-
cause the bomber is now in the air
again, and because the incidents
are such as to give lift to any
bodys morale.
With a crew of 10, the big bomber
flew high over the Caribbean, head
ing for the bulge of Brazil. But a
tropical thunderstorm tossed the
plane about and blew 1t off course.
Radio and compass both went out
OF order. The men found them
selves over Brazilian jungle, with
only two hours supply of gasoline.
Spots Place to Land.
When the pilot, 24-year-old Sec
ond Lit. Felix w. Kershner, saw a
clearing ahead, he decided to come
down. The men lay flat on the
floor, not knowing whether they
would see daylight again. The
clearing proved to be the bottom Of
an ancient lake, now grown waist
high with scrub, in which the plane
landed with no more damage than
sprained landing gear and q
cracked window.
The men scrambled out and
looked at $500,0OO worth of bomber
lying useless in the Brazilian will
derness, thousands of miles from
the nearest Nazi. They left the
ship, guessing where civilization
might lie, and struggled for nine
days through matted brush and
down jungle streams until they
reached an Army air base on the
north coast of South America.
But what about the plane? To
get 1t out would require construc-
ton of 5,000foot runway in the
wilderness, remote from highways,
where all men and materials would
have to be brought in on the backs
of black men.
The Army Air Forces conferred
with Army engineers, and they in
turn with Pan American Airways-
and all three with officials of the
Brazilian government. Result was
plan of salvage, which Pan Ameri-
can Airways was called on to exc
cute.
Had to Find Plane.
But the plane had to be found
hrst. Repeated scouting flights
failed to find it, Finally it was
located, II miles from Belem, on the
northern coast of Brazil. Men, food
and supplies were gathered for the
expedition.
Leading the expedition, as they
started up river, was Pan Americans
Engineer Mario de la Tore, a 33-
year-old Ecuadorian, who had gone
to grammar school in Baltimore and
gotten a degree in civil engineering
at the University of Maryland.
Though the bee-line distance was
only II miles from base, Mr.. de la
Tore and party went upstream 1856
miles, then beached the canoes. and
still had four days of brush beating
before reaching the plane.
Mr.. de la Tore wrote in his diary,
"Put under observation by native
Indians. They actually believe we
are crazy for doing this"
Bullet for Snake Bite.
And later, "A bushmaster bit me
In the left index finger. Had to
shoot the end of the finger of to
avoid dying"
When scouting planes saw that
Mr.. de la Tore had found the plane,
reinforcements were sent from
Belem. Into the trackless interior
came total of 104 workers.
For % days they toiled at the job
Of making a mile-long runway in
the dense matt0 Twelve workers