Northwest History. Alaska 7. Aviation Air Lines, United States

• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: 1935
• Subjects: Super-Airways; Alaska; Juneau; Captain Edward Whitehead; regional adviser; the bureau of air commerce; survey; Uncle Sam's "attic"; airport and airplane program; plane transportation; communication; air travel; Cassiar region; Rogers-Post disaster; PWA program; radio beams; air inspector; Pacific Alaska Airways; Pan American; Northwest; Pacific > History > 20th century; Cassiar; Pacific; Yukon
• Online Access: http://content.libraries.wsu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/clipping/id/89500

Super-Airways Over Alaska Is Visioned By Flier. Super-Airways Over Alaska Is Visioned By Flier JUNEAU, Alaska, Nov. 13 (UP) —A net of super-airways over Alaska was envisioned by Captain Edward Whitehead, regional adviser for the bureau of air commerce, who has completed a final survey of the territory in connection with the proposed $3,000,000 airport and airlane program for Uncle Sam's "attic." Plane transportation affords almost the only means of communication with many isolated Alaska cities, but Whitehead found safety facilities "very slight" in comparison with air travel in the states. "The tragedy of the four persons lost in the upper Yukon country last August, and the near-tragedy of the six men forced down in the Cassiar region last week would have been avoided if Alaska had any where near adequate landiug field facilities," Captain Whitehead said. "The Rogers-Post disaster poiueft world attention to the plant situation in the territory, any it now appears that an early start will be lnade on the big PWA program.' Three nets of airways, with landing fields, beacons and possibly even radio beams, will be given Alaska under the program. More weather stations. Vitally necessary in the far north, will also be built. "The fact that over $3,000,000 was sent out of the territory in gold alone last month proves that such a system in sparsely settled country like Alaska is not a waste of money," the air inspector added. He was vigorously supported by Pacific Alaska Airways, subsidiary of Pan American, which almost completely shut down operations the first of this month after no action was taken on air mall contracts of the airport projects.