This week we will honor a team of heroes
Allow me to introduce....
The crew of the Pacific Clipper
The story of the Pacific Clipper begins in December of 1941. On December 2, the aircraft (a Boeing 314 flying boat) departed from San Francisco en route to Auckland, New Zealand. On board were 12 passengers and 10 crew members. After making a refueling stop in Hawaii the aircraft next stopped in New Caledonia to refuel before making the final trip to New Zealand. Little did any of the crew realize, that their trip would be cut short and they would face a major challenge that would put their flying skills to the ultimate test.
On December 8, the Pacific Clipper departed from New Caledonia and began to head towards New Zealand. The aircraft's radio operator (John Poindexter) heard something over the radio which he relayed to the captain (Robert Ford). A morse code that read: Pearl Harbor attacked by Japan, Plan A. "Plan A" was prearranged signal that all Pan Am aircraft were to maintain radio silence, immediately land at next destination, and await further instructions. Captain Ford quickly briefed the rest of the crew and the passengers of the situation before continuing on their course to New Zealand. Two tense hours later, they touched down in the city of Auckland.
For the next week, Captain Ford, his crew, and passengers frequented the American embassy waiting to hear word from Pan Am headquarters on what to do next. They finally received an order on December 15. The Pacific Clipper was to return to the United States as soon as possible. Captain Ford knew that the quickest way to the mainland US would take them through the Pacific Ocean through the war zone. And during their stay in Auckland, reports had come in of Japanese attacks on Pan Am flying boats (which were among their favorite targets).
In order to avoid any danger to his passengers and crew, Captain Ford decided they would fly in the opposite direction. This flight would take the Pacific Clipper on a journey that would cover 30,000 miles over oceans and continents that the crew had never traveled to before. They would have to plot their own route, proceed without charts or weather forecasts, locate their own fuel sources, and land in unfamiliar harbors. They would also need to take every precaution to avoid a confrontation with the enemy. An unarmed flying boat was no match for a Japanese fighter.
Late in the evening of December 16, the Pacific Clipper took off from Auckland and flew back towards New Caledonia to pick up 22 Pan Am employees and their families. From there, they flew to Australia where most of the passengers disembarked (as they had no desire to risk the long journey back the US). After refueling, Captain Ford and the crew of the Pacific Clipper took off from Darwin and headed to Java.
After they touched down at the port city of Surabaya on December 18, they received an unpleasant surprise from the British garrison stationed there. They found that their aircraft's fuel type (100-octane fuel) was not available. In order to continue their flight, Captain Ford asked for automobile fuel to spared for his aircraft. Although the fuel enabled the Pacific Clipper to continue its journey home, it also contained far less octane than the Clipper's aviation fuel. In other words, it would burn much faster. And since the next leg of aircraft's journey would cross the Indian Ocean (without any fuel stops for an entire day) the plane would be at a much greater risk of running out while it was still in the air.
To prevent this from happening flight engineers, Swede Roth and John Parish put together a plan. They transferred all their remaining aviation fuel to the two fuselage tanks, and completely filled the remaining tanks with the automobile fuel. Early in the morning of December 21, the Pacific Clipper took off from Surabaya. According to Captain Ford they, "climbed a couple thousand feet and pulled back power to cool off the engines. Then we switched on the automobile gas and held our breaths. The engines almost jumped out of their mounts but they ran. We figured it was either that or leave the airplane."
After flying over Sumatra, they began crossing the vast Indian Ocean on course to the city of Trincomalee in the country of Sri Lanka. Despite having no aviation charts of this area (and hearing a constant groan from the engines due to the low octane fuel), the navigator (Rod Brown) was able to find the way using the latitude and longitude of their destination. When they spotted what looked like an island, the Pacific Clipper began to descend. When they got closer they discovered (much to their horror) that the island was actually a Japanese submarine. Captain Ford barely managed to pull the plane to safe height as the sub began to fire at them.
Despite several more tense moments, the aircraft successfully touched down in the harbor of Trincomalee on December 22. Two days later, the took off for India. However, a failure in one of the engines forced them to return for repairs. After spending Christmas in Sri Lanka, they finally took off on December 26 and landed in Karachi, British India (future Pakistan). For the next two weeks, the Pacific Clipper journeyed to Bahrain, Sudan, the Congo, and even Brazil. After a final refueling stop in Trinidad and Tobago, they set their final course for New York City. They made their final touchdown thirteen hours later in NYC harbor on January 6, 1942. For the exhausted passengers and crew, the journey was finally over.
Captain Ford and his crew didn't know it at the time, but they had successfully covered more than 20,000 miles. They had landed in the waters of five continents, crossed three oceans, made stops in 12 different countries, and had spend more than 200 hours in the air. They were the very first commercial plane flight to circumnavigate the globe.
The story of the crew of the Pacific Clipper is a truly remarkable example of courage and skill when faced with an unexpected challenge. Due to their teamwork and coolness under stress, Captain Ford and his crew successfully did what was believed to be impossible and beat the odds. Their story is one that definitely deserves to be told.
https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/december-7-1941-and-first-around-world-commercial-flight
https://www.panam.org/pan-am-inspirations/634-saga-of-the-pacific-clipper
https://www.navytimes.com/news/your-navy/2018/12/21/at-this-time-in-1941-a-clipper-plane-was-trying-to-get-home-the-hard-way-flying-around-the-world/
