AFTER 20 YEARS OF RESEARCH, ONE OF THE GREATEST AVIATION MYSTERIES IS SOLVED
& PLANE WRECK LOCATION REVEALED
October 28, 2025 – Award-winning Australian writer, filmmaker and explorer Damien Lay will release his long-awaited book “Of Air and Men” (Busy Bird Publishing) about the life of famed aviator Charles Kingsford Smith, the first person to circumnavigate the globe and one of the greatest long-distance flyers in history. The book release on November 7, 2025 will coincide with the 90th anniversary of the disappearance of Kingsford Smith’s legendary Lockheed Altair 8D aircraft, Lady Southern Cross.
In 1935, Kinsford Smith and co-pilot Tommy Pethybridge went missing while attempting to break the flight speed record between England and Australia. The final resting place of the pilot, crew, and plane has baffled historians for generations, until now.
“Of Air and Men” follows and tells this dramatic tale, offering the final unwritten chapter in this amazing story, now 90+ years in the making. Lay, considered one of the world’s leading authorities on the disappearance of the Lady Southern Cross, has spent over twenty years researching and documenting the historic event.
The wreckage was first discovered in 2009, approximately two kilometers off the Burmese coast on the floor of the Gulf of Martaban using sonar imaging. It took Lay and his team 18 expeditions to Myanmar (Burma), a country marred by political turmoil, war, pirates, militias, and some of the worst diving conditions on earth, to recover around 45 pieces from the wreck. The dives, over 100 feet in depth in perilous conditions, were possible only after the silt had temporarily shifted.
The pieces of wreckage that Lay and his team found in 2012 included timber and components such as fuel lines, each piece corresponding with his sonar imaging. “I’ve absolutely no doubt that we have achieved our mission and will continue every effort so that one day it may be possible to bring the men of the Lady Southern Cross home,” said Lay.
About Damien Lay:
Damien Lay is an acclaimed director, producer, and screen- writer with more than three decades in the film industry. A multi-award-winning filmmaker, he has built a reputation for uncovering untold stories and bringing them to life with cinematic intensity and emotional depth. His landmark documentary The Battle of Long Tan (2006) remains the highest-rated program in Australian pay television history.
Guided by a passion for history, mystery, and the enduring power of story, Lay has created a diverse body of work that spans feature films, documentaries, and original screenplays. His credits include Game of Aces (2016), Semi Colin (2012), and He’s Coming South (2005), each marked by a relentless pursuit of truth and a commitment to artistry. His work has taken him to the farthest corners of the world in search of forgotten histories and hidden narratives, shaping stories that are both compelling and emotionally resonant.
Whether on screen or page, Lay’s storytelling is defined by a devotion to craft, exploration of humanity’s mysteries, and an indomitable spirit that drives him to seek, to question, and to remember.