FAULTY EXHAUST WELDING

Hawera Star, Volume LIV, 15 June 1935, Page 5

FAULTY EXHAUST WELDING

Cause of Engine Failure on Southern Cross

DISASTER NARROWLY AVERTED AIR ACCIDENTS INQUIRY (United Press Association—By Electric Telegraph Copyright). Received 2 p.m. to-day. SYDNEY, To-day. The Minister of Defence, the Rt. Hon. R. A. Parkhill, with reference to the findings of the Air Accidents Investigation Committee, announced that the accident to the Southern Cross on. May 15 in the trans-Tasman flight was due to the failure of a welding oa the exhaust pipe of the centre engine. Exhaust rings differing in design -and construction from those originally fitted had been made and fitted on all three engines without the approval of the ground engineer in charge of the work. The exhaust pipe was manufactured by' a competent welder who, however, was not fully conversant with the type and strength of the welding required for use in aircraft exhaust systems. The manufacture and’ fitting of the exhaust pipe, however, had been supervised and accepted as satisfactory by' the licensed ground engineer. The -committee also recorded its highest praise of Captain P. G. Taylor’s heroic action in transferring the oil from the starboard to the port engine during the flight.