LOST

Major F. L. Martin, Commander of the World Cruise (TIME, Jan. 14, et seq.) was lost again with his plane-The Seattle. The three other planes were waiting ahead of him, 400 miles west, at Dutch Harbor (Alaska), while high winds and repairs delayed their chief at Chignik (Alaska). Before Major Martin left, he found it necessary to scrape 400 pounds of ice off his plane and thaw out his gasoline pump. The promise of calmer weather proved deceptive, and with reports of 100-mile-an-hour gales in the North Pacific, the second disappearance of the Seattle was sad, but not unexpected news. The natives reported that " the weather is worse than has been known for years and even the sea gulls are seeking sheltered nooks out of the wind." In spite of systematic and intensive research of the sea and inlets along the islands, no trace of the missing plane was found and hope was all but abandoned. Lieutenants Smith, Wade and Nelson were ordered to go on, however. They flew 350 miles to Atka Island, prepared to go another 530 miles to Altu Island, when they were scheduled to make their longest flight-- 878 miles to Shimushu Island near Japan.

With reporting by TIME