Charles Edward Kingsford Smith was an Australian aviation pioneer. He became internationally famous in 1928 after making the first trans-Pacific flight from the United States to Australia. "Smithy" also made the first non-stop crossing of the Australian mainland, the first flights between Australia and New Zealand, the first eastward Pacific crossing from Australia to the United States and set an Australia to London record of 10.5 days.
Smith and co-pilot John Thompson "Tommy" Pethybridge disappeared over the Andaman Sea on 8 November 1935, while flying the Lady Southern Cross from India to Singapore as part of their attempt to break the England-Australia speed record held by C. W. A. Scott and Tom Campbell Black. Their bodies have never been found.
