AN EXPERT INQUIRY.

Otago Witness, Issue 3996, 14 October 1930, Page 26

AN EXPERT INQUIRY.

WORLD-WIDE SYMPATHY.

SIFTING THE EVIDENCE. RUGBY, October 6.

The personal impressions of the survivors of RlOl are, of course, subject to error caused by the emotion of the moment, and any considered opinion of the cause and the circumstances of the disaster can only be formed when all the evidence has been collected and examined. Air Chief Marshal Sir John Salmond and the Chief of the Air Staff (Air Commodore Holt) flew to France early yesterday morning, and they were followed by an investigation party of seven experts, including Squadronleader Booth, captain of RlOO.

A preliminary meeting of the experts was held on the scene of the disaster last night, and instructions were given by a joint commission of French and English experts to begin collecting evidence to-day. After last night’s meeting the following official statement was issued:— “ The cause of the accident cannot be ascertained until the evidence has been sifted, but there is every reason to suppose that no explosion occurred until the airship struck the ground. A full public inquiry into the loss of the airship will be held in England in due course.

Although no final decision as to the tause can be reached pending the result of these inquiries, the announcement that the explosion occurred after the vessel struck the ground is borne out by theories advanced by those who have made a preliminary examination of the wreckage. When the airship crashed the smashing or tearing off of an engine car, the control car, or of any important part of her accommodation, would, it is pointed out, break the electrical connections of her lighting, and produce short circuits, which would produce flashes of sparks. Such flashes may have ignited the small supply of petrol carried for starting the engines, and would be quite enough to start the fire which consumed the ship. Alternatively, these sparks may have occurred in a stream of hydrogen caused by the damage to the hull and the gas bags, and thus caused the explosion. A still simpler explanation is also possible. As the engine cars struck the ground they were forced into the envelope of the ship, which collapsed on them and the hot exhausts of the engine w 7 ere probably brought into contact with the gas bags. Such a fire, once started, would, in a few seconds, sweep the ship from end to end, for although RlOl was relatively safe from fuel fires, she carried 5,650,000 cubic feet of hydrogen.

PARTS FOUND MILES AWAY. LONDON, October 6. The inquiry opened at Beauvais. Air Commodore Holt stated that the definite cause of the accident was the breakage of the structure,—not motor failure. Parts had been found which fell five miles from the wreck, indicating that something had happened five or ten minutes before the crash.

WRECKAGE EXAMINED. RUGBY, October 7. The expert commission to investigate the cause of the disaster has now been constituted, and began its examination of the wreckage to-day. No announcement will be made until the evidence is complete. Regarding the hasty conclusions based on the fact that a small flat piece of aluminium had been found five miles away, the piece is no heavier than a postage stamp, and might easily have been carried by the wind when the airship was burning.

October 9. The Commission of Inquiry is continuing its researches into the causes vf *-he RlOl disaster. All access to the wreck by the public has been prohibited. No announcement will be made until the commission has reported to the authorities.