How Did Sir Charles Kingsford Smith Die?
Sir Charles Kingsford Smith was a historic figure who was an Australian aviation pilot. He was responsible for flying the first flight between Australia and New Zealand but is mainly remembered for his first transpacific flight.
He was born on the 9th of February, 1897 in Brisbane, Colony of Queensland and he died on the 8th of November, 1935 (aged 38) around the Andaman Sea. Sir Charles Kingsford Smith’s death is often discussed since there is a lot of mystery around the topic, and a lot of conspiracy theories have come up around it.
This article will help you get an idea about the whole mysterious event that a lot of people are still curious about.
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Biography of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith
Birth Incident of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith
Sir Charles Kingsford Smith's Achievements
To get to know the reasons for Sir Charles Kingsford Smith's death we need to first get to know a bit about his personal life and his contributions to the world. He is mostly known for initiating the first non-stop crossing of the Australian mainland, the first Trans-Pacific flight and the England to Australia air race.
He grew up in Sydney and became a school dropout at age 16 to become an engineering apprentice. In 1915 he officially joined the Australian Army and acted as a dispatch rider in the Gallipoli campaign. In 1917, he was awarded the Military Cross, after being shot down and later transferred to the Royal Flying Corps. He was an active part of the Australian army in World War I.
After the end of the war, he worked as a barnstormer in England and USA for a few years before returning to Australia in 1921. He was one of the first commercial pilots to join West Australian Airlines. He also completed the first-ever Transpacific journey in 1928 from California to Brisbane.
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How did Sir Charles Kingsford Smith Die?
Now comes the main question about the death incident of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith. Unfortunately while flying the Lady Southern Cross, over Allahabad, India to reach Singapore, he and his co-pilot John Thompson 'Tommy' Pethybridge, disappeared over the Andaman Sea. They wanted to fly it to break the England-Australia speed record held by C. W. A. Scott and Tom Campbell Black.
While they were at it, they mysteriously disappeared over the Andaman Sea on 8th November 1935. The Aviator Jimmy Melrose claimed that he had seen the Lady Southern Cross 61 meters above the sea, struggling in a storm that was almost 240 km away from the shore. The aircraft was later witnessed to be falling in flames.
Later their bodies weren't recovered even after a search of 74 hours in the Bay of Bengal by Eric Stanley Greenwood, who was a British pilot. A Burmese fisherman had found an undercarriage leg and a wheel, eighteen months later at the Aye Island, in the Gulf of Martaban. Upon investigation, it was confirmed that this undercarriage leg was from Lady Southern Cross.
Conclusion
His story is still not forgotten through the autobiography that was written and published in 1937 by his wife, titled ‘My Flying Life', which was a bestseller.
