The search for help
A rough position of the aircraft had been identified, before the forced landing, by various air traffic control centres in West Africa, but its exact location was not known. Many hours were to pass before the crew of a French Junkers aircraft would spot it. BOAC had also contacted the American Air Force base in Libya to ask for the use of a 'hover-plane' - a helicopter.
Navigator Trevor De Nett ripped a mirror from the ladies' powder room in the crashed aircraft - in order to use it to reflect the sun. In this photo the Radio Operator 'Pat' Hirst uses a lamp to signal to aircraft. Captain Langley is on the extreme right, next to Stewardess Monica Osbourne. The only female passenger, Enid Gurney, who was travelling with her six-month-old son Richard, is on the left of the photograph.
