R101 DISASTER ENQUIRY.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 20104, 6 December 1930, Page 17

RlOl DISASTER ENQUIRY.

DENIAL OF RUMOURS. 11 DR. ECKENER'S EVIDENCE. || (TTNITED FBESB ASSOCIATION —BY ETJSCTBIC | ' TELEGBATH—COPYRIGHT.) | ' LONDON, December 4. | At the RlOl enquiry Sir John Simon | (chairman) referred to rumours cur- J; rent, especially in Prance, that « I woman was aboard, and that some of i those on duty were not sober when f the voyage started, a large quantity | of intoxicants having been taken | aboard. | _ There was not the slightest founda- § tion for these rumours. Indeed the j: lady mentioned arrived in Rome on a | flight yesterday. • J Dr. Hugo Eckener (Commander of " the Graf Zeppelin) giving evidence, attributed the cause of the fire to a 1 broken electrical wire giving off * I spark. '* He expressed the opinion that th<ship was probably head heavy owing to the loss of gas in one of the for- J ward gasbags, causing a steep down- g ward movement. The comtnand&r |- would naturally have been T-luctani | to throw out the oir ballast until hj« f saw it was impossible to right the ship j, by putting up the elevators. Hp I rightly decided to throw out the fuei ji and slow down the engines, but the g continuous escape of gas caused a sec- j? ond dive, and then the crash. f Dr. Eckener expressed the opinion I that the coxswain going on duty at t the elevator at 2 a.m. '.vould have to r, feel his way into a static condition £ which would be most difficult to z«t 6 immediately. It may have Happened that a gust of wind forced thu. si f downward, which the new coxswain ? not immediately correctly counteracted, i because lie as not clear about th ■ ship's condition. The greater air pros- g sure thus brought against the nos« S accentuated the steepness of the div» | and the head heaviness. | Haste During Trials. 1 Squadron-Leader R. S. Booth, in 1 eyidence, agreed with Dr. Eckeners 1 view. He had always had the opinion | that something definite must have | happened to push the airship into I a notably steep dive after changing 1 the watch. " | He added that he did not attach I much importance to Telegraphist A. Disley's evidence yesterday, because the after end of the tapered gasbag was always higher than the forward bag. He declared that he always felt that RlOl was rushed regarding her trials by influence brought to bear. She was rushed out for the HJendon flight: against Cardington's recommendations. "I am sure that she would never have sailed for India if the Imperial Conference had not been taking place," he added.