ENGLISH AIR DISASTER

Taranaki Daily News, 24 July 1930, Page 11

ENGLISH AIR DISASTER

AIR MINISTRY’S CONTROL EXPLANATION IN PARLIAMENT EXPERT’S THEORY OF CRASH . British Official Wireless. Bee. 5.5 p.m. Rugby, July 22. The air disaster in which six persons •were killed yesterday at Mocpham, (Kent, was the subject of a question in \ 'Parliament to-day. The Under-Secre-tary for Air, Mr. F. Montague, was asked to state what control the Air Ministry exercised over passenger-car-rying aircraft, whether such machines were* subjected to periodical inspection, how often such inspections were made and if he was satisfied the regulations were carried out in such a manner as to reduce accidents to a minmum. Mr. Montague in reply said it was difficult within the compass of a parliamentary statement to summarise the very elaborate regulations ■ prescribed by the Air Ministry in order to ensure the safety of passenger-carrying aircraft,. Briefly, the Ministry required such aircraft to be inspected within 24 houi. of each flight, the inspection being; undertaken by a competent ground en o m <er who was required to • provide a certificate in writing. The inspection covered not only the machine but also the' engine or engines. The persop in charge of the aircraft had to satisfy ■ himself that various requirements had ■ begn met. . • While-he was not in a position to make any definite statement in regard to the machine that crashed until the Ministry’s investigation into the accident was complete, Mr. Montague was in general satisfied that the regulations were most strictly applied and every■|hing possible was done to reduce the risk of accident, to a minimum. Mr. Montague on behalf of the An* Minister (Lord Thomson) and himself, conveyed to the .relatives of those who that had lost their lives an expression of profound sympathy. He was sure the House would wish to be associated with

The Air Ministry’s expert theorises that the engine became detached in Colonel’Henderson’s aeroplane, which consequently overturned and the occupants were‘hurled violently through the metal roof, which was ripped from end to end. The force of their impact there would he sufficient to kill them instantly. . Experts continue to discuss the disaster. They suggest the engine may have dewed round through some failure fixing with, the result that tho propellor, ’ Rotating at terrific speed, struck the Wing and caused it to break off. Another Expert is of. the opinion that Colonel 'Henderson, coming out of tho clouds in ft fairly steep glide, was unable to check jhe glide and went into a wing flutter, the overstrain causing a wing to collapse. There were no signs of an explosion, rhe German designer is flying to England to Investigate the mystery. t ... Viscount Ednam, whose wife Was kUL kd, is suffering from ptomaine poisoning tut left Le Touquet for England to-day with Lady Dudley.