BRITISH PLANE DISASTER

Grey River Argus, 31 March 1933, Page 5

BRITISH PLANE DISASTER

PATHETIC SCENES Messages of Sympathy (British Official Wireless). RUGBY, March 29. Major Cooper, investigator of accidents, at the Air Ministry, accompanied by Assistant Flight Lieut. Davy, left Croydon by air this morning to begin investigations into the Dixmude disaster, in which fifteen lives were lost through the destruction of an Imperial Airways passenger plane. After examination, the removal of the wreckage began this afternoon, in the presence of the Air Ministry Inspector, and the Belgian air authorities. SIR T. ROWLAND. LONDON, March 29. The Rowland who was killed in the air crash is Sir Thomas Rowland. A railway ticket was the sole means of identification. THE SYDNEYITES. LONDON, March 29. The poignancy of the tragedy is intensified by information received by the Australian Press Association, showing that Katherine (not Kay) Mellraith, who was about 19 years of age, intended to return to Australia shortly, with her brother as escort. He was about 24 years of age. He arrived in England in January by the liner Strathnaver, and went to Paris, where, on February 14, he commenced a European tour with his sister, visiting many cities. She came to England with her mother in January, 1931, and went to the Cheltenham Ladies’ College. Then, at the end of last summer, she commenced living with a family in Paris, in order to increase her knowledge of French. The brother and sister recently flew from Amsterdam to Berlin. Hugh MeIlraith, on Monday, telegraphed to the firm’s representative in London, from Cologne, saying that he was completing his itinerary the next day, with his arrival in London. It is understood that the Mcllraiths were members of a well-known Sydney family, connected with Mellraith’s, Ltd. ' SYDNEY-, March 30. The address of the Mcllraiths is unobtainable. The Imperial Airways inform the Australian Press Association that they were returning from Germany, whither they flew recently. LONDON, March 29. The London representative of MeIlraith’s is awaiting information as to whether the bodies of Hugh and Katherine Mellraith are identifiable If so, they will probably be buried in Derbyshire; but the majority of the victims, including the Mcllraiths, are still in the charred wreckage, and consequently, identification is difficult.

Pathetic Features OF SALVAGE OPERATIONS. (Aus. & N.Z. Cable Assn.) (Received March 30 at 5.5 p.m.) LONDON, March 30. At the salvage operations after the Dixmude disaster, one couple were found in each other’s arms. They were identified as Mr and Mrs Dibbin, owing to a cheque book in Mr Dibbin ’s pocket. One of the most pathetic incidents was the arrival of a party of blackcostumed German ladies, who were relatives of the school girl, Voss. They eagerly sought for souvenirs of their loved one, rejecting one object after another that was taken from the wreckage when handed to them for identification. The young wife of Eugene Kricglinger, one of the victims, who was a well-known Antwerp financier, insisted on coming to Dixmude to identify her husband’s body, but her courage failed at the last moment, and she motored away. ALL BODIES IDENTIFIED. (Received March 30 at 7 p.m.) LONDON, March 29. Belgian workmen were engaged all day in extricating the bodies of the victims from the wreck of th e City of Liverpool. They were at first hampered by clouds of smoke that were rising from the wreckage till they were subdued by firemen. Then the salvage proceeded rapidly By nightfall the bodies of all of the victims had been removed to the Dixmude Hospital. AU have now been identified by means of their passports and other objects. EXPERTS BAFFLED The British Air Ministry experts have been given every opportunity to examine the -wreckage, but thus far the experts are unable even to form a theory of the accident. ACCOUNT OF THE ACCIDENT. Conflicting statements from eye-wit-nesses continue to arrive. The most connected statement is that of Andre Rotmelard, who first noticed the City of Liverpool at a height of five thousand feet. Smoke was then pouring from the plane, and the smoke became darker and thicker. The pilot was obviously trying to make a landing. An explosion occurred when the plane was within five hundred feet of the earth. QUESTION IN PARLIAMENT. THE INQUIRY. RUGBY, March 29. The plane disaster was the subject