LOSS OF AIR-LINER.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 62, Issue 227, 8 July 1942, Page 5

LOSS OF AIR-LINER.

EVIDENCE ON BEARINGS GIVEN. THE TRAINING OF OPERATORS. (P.A.) WELLINGTON, July 7. The inquiry into the crash of the Union Airways airliner on Mount Richmond was continued to-day. The board of inquiry consists of Mr W. F. Stilwell, S.M. (chairman), Captain Oscar Garden, and Squadron Leader G. B. Bolt. ' In reply to Captain Garden, who said that some bearings sent to the aeroplane were classified as “firstclass swinging,” Squadron Leader L. F. P. Taylor, operations officer in the Civil Aviation Department, said he thought the classification was definitely wrong. The bearings should not have been sent as first class if they were swinging. He added that in July of last year he formed the opinion that some of the operating staff in the stations were not up to a proper standard of efficiency, and he thought a better method of training operators could be adopted. Thomas; Reynolds Clarkson, radio engineer in the Post and Telegraph | Department, submitted a report on the j direction-finding service, with which he had been associated since its inception. He defined three classes of bearing, first, second, and third class. The term “swinging,” he said, was not official, but w'as used at Nelson. He said that mountainous country very greatly reduced the accuracy of bearings. Though there were superior types of equipment, the plant installed at Nelson was similar to that used abroad for the kind of assistance en--1 visaged by the Controller of Civil Aviation, and was in good working order. He considered that the Nelson station was working accurately at the -time of the disasaer, and he had no information which would incline him to believe that the bearings recorded and sent out were incorrect. He thought the operating staff were efficient, but in general he thought that much more exacting methods of training should be instituted. Flight Lieutenant J. M. Buckeridge said he did not consider that delay in the release of the Nelson air radio station for general use had any bearing on the accident. The operator at Nelson was working under difficulties. Normally, there were two men on duty, one to handle direction finding and the other to handle the log. When the senior man went away sie one who was left was able to handle direction finding efficiently, but had difficulty otherwise.