Transport: Down in Flames

Five weeks ago Captain Mario Stoppani, Italian Royal Air Force ace, flew 4,230 miles from Cadiz, Spain to Caravellas, Brazil, breaking the previous non-stop distance record for seaplanes (3,435 miles). Fortnight later three other Italian planes, one of them piloted by Benito Mussolini’s son, Bruno, emulated his example by hopping to Brazil. Last week Stoppani set out to fly back. Two hours from the coast of Brazil one of his motors failed, he turned back, dumped gasoline, promptly caught fire. He and four companions jumped, landed in a sea covered with flaming gasoline. When a rescue plane arrived only Stoppani was still afloat.