Everest Flight, Blacker

Amateur film taken during the first flight over Everest, showing stunning aerial views of the mountain

Amateur film taken during the first flight over Everest, showing aerial views of the mountain. The summit of Everest was flown over on the 3rd April 1933 by both machines of the ‘Houston Mount Everest Expedition’. The Houston-Westland plane contained Colonel Blacker and Lord Clydesdale, and the Westland-Wallace plane, Flight Lieutenant McIntyre with S.R. Bonnett (aerial photographer).

Latham Valentine Stewart Blacker (1887-1964) was a British Army officer. He persuaded the Royal Geographical Society, Air Ministry, India Office and Nepali government to let the flights go ahead; they were financed by Lady Lucy Houston (an aviator). There were a few blips on the first flight; the photographer blacked out due to a ruptured oxygen feed and failed to take a picture of the summit. Makalu was photographed, but wrongly captioned in ‘The Times’ as Everest.