Ducking

In a thousand newspaper offices the hearts of a thousand editors gave an extra-hard thump one day last week when the wire service tickers gave them the words: "Lindberghs . . . crash." In a moment it was clear that both Colonel & Mrs. Lindbergh were safe. They had been fished out of the filthy Yangtze River at Hankow by a lifeboat crew from the British aircraft carrier Hermes. Still, a crash was a crash and many a page-wide headline shrieked the news that afternoon. Next day it was being called a "ducking."

For three days there were as many different accounts of the episode as there were sources:

1) The Lindberghs had just taken off from the river, were traveling more than 100 m. p. h. (according to "witnesses") when the engine failed. "The plane plunged like a shot into the river" (United Press).

2) The Colonel was immersed, but his wife remained high & dry, stepping from airplane to lifeboat. (Hallett Abend of the New York Times')

3) "When the plane touched water after being lowered from the deck of the Hermes, the four-knot current swept the plane sidewise and tipped it until one wing went under and the plane tilted to about 90DEG. Mrs. Lindbergh attempted by pressing a lever to inflate a collapsed rubber life belt she was wearing. The belt failed to inflate and, appearing quite unperturbed, she followed the instructions of Colonel Lindbergh and dove into the water. . . ." (Consul General Walter Adams to the U. S. State Department.)

4) "After the airplane started taxiing we struck a wire or a piece of debris in the river. I lost control of the machine. Anne jumped into the river, and realizing the force of the current, I jumped overboard to assist her. . . . We were struggling in the water when a launch ... arrived." (Colonel Lindbergh, via United Press.)

5) As the plane touched the water the current dragged it aft. Colonel Lindbergh promptly opened his engine, causing the plane, which was still held by a cable, to shoot forward. The cable pulled the plane over on its side; the Lindberghs jumped out (Associated Press).

Flyers and plane were hauled back aboard the Hermes which steamed for Shanghai, where the plane was to be repaired.

On the way a radiogram told the Lindberghs of the sudden death of her father.

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