RAGING INFERNO.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 108, 8 May 1937, Page 9

RAGING INFERNO.

RIOI'S AWFUL END. Explosions and Fire in Airship Disaster of 1930. SURVIVORS' VIVID STORIES. Forty-eight souls, including several of the highest aviation officials in Britain, were killed in the crash and the ensuing fire when, in the early hours of the morning of October 5, 10:50, the new British dirigible RlOl, after encountering a' terrific storm, hit a low hill in Northern France and exploded. Only five of the 53 people on board were saved and they were all badly injured. The victims included Lord Thomson ; Secretary of State for Air; Sir Sefton Braneker, Director of Civil Aviation; Squadron-Leader Palastra, of the Royal Australian Air Force; Squadron-Leader W. H. L. O'Xeill, representing the Secretary of State for India; Wing-Com-mander Colmore, Director of Airship Development; Lieutenant-Colonel V. C. Richmond, who was the chief designer of R101; Major G. H. Scott, who was in charge of the expedition; and Lieu-tenant-Commander W. H. Watt, formerly of Xew Zealand and Karachi. The craft was on its first long flight, from Cardington, England, to India. It was an experimental trip, with the object of making a start in blazing the trail to Australia. In the grey of dusk, with the brilliance of a monster floodlamp gleaming on the •silver of her massive hull, the RlOl left Cardington. Early next morning the airship hit a hill less than 100 ft high at the village of Allonne, Xorthern France, and crashed in flames. The heat of the blazing wreckage prevented j approach to the RlOl before daylight. The bo<lies of the 48 victims, many unidentifiable, were later collected. The clothes had been burnt off most of them but some bodies were identified by rings and watches.

Survivors and eye-witnesses told vivid stories of the dreadful fate of the passengers and crew and of the total wreck of the airship. "Terrific, Stunning Crash." The survivors were in the back cabin. They were saved either through being, thrown clear or by jumping. RhgCM* A. .1. ro".k -t'd: -'Though it was terrible, it but i bl* another page to British hc'ii-m. Captain Irwin wrfi a hero. A<s ! fought my way through the flames T saw him standing at his post giving orders. Ho made no attempt to save his own life."' The wireless operator. Bisley, said: "I was lying in my bunk when there was a terrific. stunning crash. Everything went dark. Then there was a tremendous burst of flame. T rushed out and attacked the fabric, using my teeth and nails, but it withstood my efforts. ''The flames were rushing towards rue and T sank down on th- corridor exhausted. Then the flooring gave way and T fell through to the grass. T jr (> t I out j"st. in time. and Dinks ru-hed towards me and dragged me to safety." i "No Warning, Not a Minute." H. J. Leech saitl: "There was no warning, not a minute. As the airship j lurched to the earth it burst into flames, then crashed into the hill-top. ! "I do not know how I come to be | alive. Everybody aboard wf< asleep except the watch and the pilot. ! "The motors were working perfectly. The villagers who thought they were working badly made a mistake. The airship was battling with n storm of rain and wind. She dipped thrice, then I a violent gust hurled it to the ground. It. was at that moment that the exploj sion occurred." | Another survivor, named Church, said: I "I was awakened a few minutes before i the explosion. I really know nothing ! beyond seeing a tremendous flash. I j managed to get out of the ship's nose, I then I collapsed." Another said: "I had a miraculous escape. There was a flash and a horI rible roar as the structure piled up on the ground. I was stunned, but managed to crawl away." Eye-witness of Disaster. George Darling, of Leeds, who resides in Beauvais, to.d the Central Xews correspondent that he saw the airship rising and falling ominously. He said he realised she was in difficulties, and decided to follow her in a motor car. He was some distance behind when the airship came down with a terrible crash. Flames instantly appeared at one end, but had not a substantial hold. "When I arrived," he said, "I was amazed to see Leech, a member of the airship, who said that nobody was awake when the RlOl was in difficulties till a few minutes before the crash. He told me he knew the captain was trying to communicate with the engineroom when the ship dropped. The wind seemingly dasher her on the hillside. Then there followed an explosion and fire, and another explosion five minutes later."

Repelled by Flames. Then Bell and Binks, other members of the crew, appeared. Darling said he broke the mica door, and with Leech and others penetrated to the mechanical control room They tried to reach the cabin, but the flame-, repelled them. They saw one man terribly burned trying frantically to escape, but he collapsed i-to the raging inferno. Later they found Church, whose hair was burned off. Firemen were able to begin operations at dawn. They quickly discovered four unrecognisable bodies, then a score of others were extricated from the ruins. By nine o'clock 32 bodies were recovered, of whom 25 were in the main cabin. M. Scourin, commanding the gendarmerie of the Ouise Department, who was quickly on the scene, said it was a terrible sight. He heard groans, but in spite of all efforts he could not get close to the airship, from which the flames were shooting to a great height. The Hindenburg's ribs were largely built of stcl taken from t*!e wreck of the British RlOl and the dismantled RIOO.