Today in History

1938 First official airmail flight to San Francisco

The first official New Zealand airmail to the United States departed Auckland for San Francisco aboard Pan American Airline's Samoan Clipper. This Sikorsky S-42B flying boat was piloted by Captain Ed Musick.

Musick, Pan Am's top pilot, had completed the first survey flight from San Francisco to Auckland in March 1937. Thousands of intrigued spectators turned up to watch his arrival at Mechanics Bay, heralding what they hoped would be the start of a regular air service linking New Zealand to the American continent. 

The original flight had been delayed from 30 December due to bad weather. By the time it took off on 2 January it was carrying 25,000 items posted by New Zealanders. Musick arrived in Pago Pago, American Samoa, on 1 January (having crossed the International Date Line). He then landed on Kingman Reef, an uninhabited atoll 1700 kms south of Honolulu, Hawaii, where flight was met by a schooner with supplies. On 3 January the Samoan Clipper arrived in Honolulu, where the mail was transferred to a Martin 130 flying boat on the regular Manila–San Francisco route. It arrived in San Francisco on 6 January.

Disaster struck the return trip. Shortly after take off from Pago Pago on 11 January, Musick reported an oil leak in one of his engines. In an attempt to assure a safe landing he attempted to lighten the plane by dumping fuel. Tragically for Musick and his crew, fuel vapours collected in the wing structure resulting in a mid-air explosion. There were no survivors.

At the time of his death, aged 43, Musick was unquestionably the world's most famous pilot. He had appeared on the cover of Time Magazine and was responsible for a number of early commercial aviation firsts. As a result of this accident the proposed regular service between Auckland and San Francisco was halted. It did not resume until 1940.

Musick Point, on the eastern shore of the Tamaki River in Auckland, was named in the pilot's honour.