Las Vegas Age

PILOT'S SKILL, RABBIT'S FOOT SAVED AIR EXPRESS PLANE

ALBUQUERQUE, N. M. Oct 30 (U.P.)—To a pilot's expert handling of his ship and the traditional luck of a rabbit's foot today was attributed the safe landing of the Western Air Express passenger liner during a blinding snow-storm in a desolate region near the Arizona line Monday.

After planes had been forced by squalls to abandon search for the missing ship, Pilot James T. Doles, Los Angeles, maneuvered the craft bearing his two associates and two passengers to a safe landing here late yesterday afternoon in a light snowstorm, more than 24 hours overdue from Los Angeles.

Doles, chief pilot, Allan C. Barrie, Burbank, Calif., R. L. Britten, of Los Angeles, steward, and the passengers, Dr. A. W. Ward, San Francisco, nationally known dentist and W. E. Merz, Mt. Vernon N. Y. were none the worse for their experience. The plane encountered a blizzard near Trechamp, N. M. Monday morning, and it was only through Doles' expert airmanship that he was able to bring the huge three-motored Fokker to a safe landing.

There were no signs of life in the region. Doles explained, and the crew and passengers huddled beside the plane until dark, when they were forced by the intense cold to set out with flashlights to find shelter. About a mile and a half away they located a deserted cabin, where they built a fire and spent the night.

"We weren't lost—not for a minute," Doles said. "but the snow storm did blow us off our course."

"But the main thing is this rabbit. This little fellow was down in the snow at my feet when I first got out of the plane and picked him up."

Dr. Ward and Merz said their good fortune was due to Doles' expert landing, adding:

"But a rabbits foot and a half frozen rabbit brought us safely to Albuquerque."

Dr. Ward chuckled over his ability as a cook. Through his efforts over a dilapidated coal stove, the derelicts sat down to a belated dinner of stew after the forced landing.