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PLANE CRASH FEARED.
FLYING PADRE MISSING.
Search South of Wyndham.
DARWIN, Jan. 16.-An R.A.AF.
Dakota which searched the rough
country south of Wyndham today
found no trace of a Tiger Moth
piloted by Capt. Victor Pederson
which has been missing since last
Tuesday night.
Capt. Pederson is a Salvation Army
captain, and a former padre in the
R.A.AR., and it has been his cus
tom to visit outback stations in the
Northern Territory and North-West
giving church services. He left
Wyndham for Denham River, a dis
tance of only 46 miles, at 6 p.m.
on Tuesday and has not been seen
since.
'About a dozen station homesteads
in the vicinity, which are equipped
with pedal radio sets, have been
asked if they have information
Capt. V. PEDERSON. Help
Capt. V. PEDERSON.
about Capt. Pederson. In all cases
the answer has been: "We have
neither seen nor heard him."
The country between Wyndham
and Denham River is some of the
worst flying country in Australia.
One of the Territory's most experi
enced pilots, Mr. Jack Slade, who
flies the N.T. aerial ambulance, said
today that maps of the area were
marked "very bad flying country."
He had not seen this reference on
maps applied to any other part of
Australia.
The Dakota which searched to
dqy was in the air for about 10
hours and landed at Wyndham for
refuelling! The country is full of
gorges and precipitous slopes, and
it would be possible for the search
ers' plane to miss a Moth, which
had crashed in heavy timber.
It is understood that Capt. Peder
son carries a portable bicycle in the
plane with him.
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