THE ALLIANCE DISASTER.

Wanganui Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 15977, 20 November 1919, Page 5

THE ALLIANCE DISASTER.

SCENES IN COURT.

* INQUEST ON TWO AIRMEN,

Australian and N.Z. Cable Association. Received November 20, 9.30 a.m. LONDON, Nov. 19.

At the inquest on Lieutenants Douglas and Ross, the victims of the Alliance disaster, J. A. Peters, who designed the machine and piloted a similar one from London to Madrid, said that Douglas and Ross were trained in every detail in order to deal with repairs en route. The machine was in perfect condition when it started, and it weighed less than 60.00 pounds, being 400 pounds less than the Madrid machine. The examination of the wreckage and the subsequent stripping of the engines showed no mechanical defect. Witness produced Ross’s brief log, which throws no light on the accident, there being only one entry showing an altitude of 1200 feet when they left Hounslow. Witness's theory was that the machine came but of a cloud in a spin with the engine off. The pilot apparently put he rnose down in order to straighten her out, but had insufficient altitude to right himself. Miss Mabel Woolley, Douglas’s fiancee, intervened during Peters’ evidence with a passionate protest that the airmen were allowed to depart without the machine being thoroughly tested. She declared that Douglas told her that no test had been made with the full wireless equipment aboard, except action to Hounslow, She asked angrily if a five minutes’ flight was a sufficient test for a journey to Australia. Peters said the machine was in the air for three-quarters of an hour on the previous day.

A friend of Dougjas’s in the public gallery constantly attempted to put questions regarding the flying tests between the 30th October and the day of departure. He declared that the Court was packed, and asserted that the Coroner was failing in his duty. The Coroner ordered the police to remove the interjector, and after the medical evidence he summed up to the effect that there was no doubt that the Air Ministry, and the Australian authorities would investigate the points raised irregularly. He had no doubt that death was due to accidental causes.

A verdict was returned of accidental death, no ■ blame attaching to the designers or makers of the aeroplane or engines.