RUSSIAN VERDICT

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22618, 22 April 1948, Page 5

RUSSIAN VERDICT

BERLIN AIR COLLISION BRITISH PLANE BLAMED (10 a.m.) LONDON. April 21. The Moscow radio stated today that the Russian court of inquiry into the Berlin air crash established that the British airliner Viking hit the Soviet fighter. The court found that the fighter was on a training flight around the Russian airport at Dalgow and had lowered its undercarriage in preparing to land. “The British plane, which shot out of the clouds, hit the Yak’s tail, causing it to lose control and crash,” the report added. The Soviet Tass News Agency, quoting the court’s findings, said: “The reason for the collision was the British plane’s violation-of the rules of flight and its piercing through the clouds. The British administration did not request and therefore did not receive preliminary permission from the Berlin air safety centre for the British plane's (light, although the rules of the air force directorate of Control Council make it obligatory to receive such permission.’’ The court also accused the British authorities of “wrecking” Russian efforts for a joint Anglo-Soviet investigation into the collision. British officials at the Berlin air safety centi'e described the Russian court’s- finding “without foundation.” The spokesman said that if such regulations had been imposed the British officials would have known about them.