1935: Lost Over the Andaman Sea: the Disappearance of Pioneer Aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith
Sir Charles Kingsford Smith had already made his name as one of the most celebrated aviators of his era, first to fly across the Pacific and a hero to a generation of Australians who followed his exploits in the newspapers. On this day in 1935, flying through the night from England towards Australia in his aircraft the Lady Southern Cross, he and his co-pilot vanished over the Andaman Sea near Burma.
No trace of the two men was ever recovered. More than a year later, part of the aircraft's undercarriage washed ashore on a nearby island, the only physical evidence that the plane had gone down at all. Kingsford Smith was 38, and the exact circumstances of his final flight remain unresolved to this day.
