VISCOUNT INQUIRY

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28231, 20 March 1957, Page 13

VISCOUNT INQUIRY

Fault In Flap Gear

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Rec. 10 p.m.) LONDON, March 19.

Twelve British European Airways Vickers Viscount turboprop airliners will be in service today with wing flaps checked and modified, the “Daily Mail” reported today. The B.E.A. fleet of Viscounts was withdrawn from service for checking after a Viscount crash last week at Manchester in which 22 people died. The whole of the fleet of 26 airliners would be checked and back in service within a few days, the paper said.

Neil Pettigrew, a 29-year-old former R.A.F. sergeant pinpointed the flaps as the cause of the Viscount crash. Pettigrew saw the starboard wing flap crumple just before the Viscount crashed. He told investigators what he had seen.

His account *ave them the clue which led them to discover among the rubble of the crashed airliner the broken five-sixteenths of an inch bolt which they believed jammed the flap operating gear, the “Daily Mail” said. The “Daily Telegraph” said experts had decided that the bolt broke while the aircraft was in flight. They were satisfied that this could have affected the operation of the flaps and was the probable cause of the crash.

Wool Values In Australia

(Rec. 10 p.m.) MELBOURNE, March 19.

Wool prices generally held steady at yesterday’s closing levels in Melbourne and Sydney today, in some cases disclosing a slightly dearer trend. There was less irregularity than at recent sales, giving the impression that the market was becoming steady at current values.

In Melbourne there was practically a total clearance of the 16,200 bales offered. The main buyers were Japan, East Europe, the United Kingdom and local mills. In Sydney 16,781 bales were offered, and 16,608 were sold. The principal buyers were the Continent, the United Kingdom, and Japan.

Crossbred prices included: Melbourne—Extra super 64’s, 121 id; super 56’s, 98d; good to super 50’s, BBd. Sydney—Good to super 60/64’s, 113 d; good to super 60’s, good 58’s, 103 d; good 50’s, 82d.

Tanker Sinks After Fire (Rec. 8 p.m.) ST. PETERSBURG (Florida)

The Liberian tanker Perama, damaged by fire and two explosions, sank today in the Gulf of Mexico 180 miles south-east of the entrance to Tampa Bay.

. The Coast Guard said the freighter Claiborne was proceeding to San Juan, Puerto Rico, with the 43 crew members of the Perama. There were no injuries among the crew.