CAUSES OF R101 DISASTER

Taranaki Daily News, 1 November 1930, Page 7

CAUSES OF R101 DISASTER

PORTION OF THE LOG FOUND

CLUE TO PRESSURE OF OIL

EVIDENCE OF “ HEAVINESS ”

EXPERT VIEWS OF INQUIRY

(British Official Wireless.) Rec. 5.5 p.m. Rugby, Oct. 30.

At the RlOl inquiry Sir William Jowitt said the inquiry was not merely to deter' mine" how the crash occurred but also the cause of «the exploson and fire after the ‘crash. Airships had come down before without an explosion. Sir Stafford Cripps said the passengers on the RlOl’s trial flight at the Hendon air pageant in July would say that “heaviness” was experienced and that a lot of ballast was dropped owing to gas leakages.

It was elicited to-day that experts who examined the wreck reached the conclusion that no part of the main structure of the vessel broke in the air. The elevator control wheel was found to be set full. The explosion followed and did not precede the crash. From a microscopic examination of the cable elevator control all the indications were that it became severed after and not 'before the fire following the crash. It was also made clear on the authority of the Director of the Meteorological Office that the suggestions that the failure of the altimeter might have produced the disaster were not borne out by the evidence. This proved, according to the Attorney-General, that the instrument was reading correctly at the moment of the crash.

This morning the court began the hearing of witnesses, the first being > Professor B airstow.

A charred sheet of paper picked up close to the spot where the RlOl was wrecked was produced. It was stated by the At-torney-General to be a page from the log of the airship. He said the exhibit was of the utmost importance because it showed the revolutions of the engine and the cruising speed down to the time of the accident.

“The last entry was at 2 a.m.,” said the Attorney-General. “At that time the revolutions were perfectly normal but the oil fuel pressure instead of being from 30 to 31 as it had been all along appeared to be only 3. At least that was the only entry against that time. Whether this was at the moment of the crash and there was no time to finish the entry cannot be said. I am told it would be a matter of engineering practice that if you found your engine pressure at 3 you would stop your engine at once before making any entry.”

Sir John Simon said the man apparently did not cqmplete the entry. It was stated that Cook', one of the survivors, was the engineer in question.