The R101 Tragedy

Waipukurau Press, Volume XXIV, Issue 127, 31 October 1930, Page 7

The R101 Tragedy

OFFICIAL INQUIRY COMMENCED

FURTHER EVIDENCE TENDERED

(British Official Wireless Service.) RUGBY.

The official inquiry into the RlOl disaster commenced yesterday. In giving evidence Sir John Simon said that it would be most important to ascertain whether during the trial flight it was necessary to use emergency fuel or drop ballast, and whether the trial flight was carried out with a load corresponding to that being taken to India. He said:' “I find it difficult to believe that there was no record of these things.”

Sir William Jowitt agreed that it was remarkable that no record was

kept. “It is of first importance that every endeavour should be made to get all existing documents liereanent,” he stated.

j Professor Bairstow reported that on October 1 he examined new in- ! formation supplied by the Royal Airship Works and was satisfied that , RlOl, as then existing, with the ! addition ot the bay, complied with I the special requirements of the air- , worthiness of airships. He was sur--1 prised by the magnitude and differ- ! ence of the condition of loading now and those of the original design. Sir William Jowitt said that ; there seemed to have been a lack of 1 liaison between the designers and Professor Bairstow. Consequently Professor Bairstow was reporting on the airship as he thought it was, not as it in fact was. Sir William Jowitt continued: “Commander Booth,'commander of the RlOO, considered that the RlOl’s trial flight was unsatisfactory because it was ' not longer and did not encounter more diverse weather conditions. Experts’ Statements Sir William Jowitt said that AirMarshall Dowing, in view of the engine failure, suggested that there ought to have been a full-powered trial before the India flight, but Major Scott and Wing-Commander Colmore, experienced men, did not suggest its desirability as delaying the flight, all declaring that the RlOl was more navigable after the insertion of the bay. Turning to the airship's last hours, he pointed out that she rereported at midnight that the altimeter recorded 1500 feet. He believed that when she sent out the final message before the crash she was at least 1100 feet. He did not believe that rain was a factor in the disaster, as the airship reported that she began to recover water ballast which was unlikely if there had been difficulty owing to the envelope being over wet.

It was disclosed that Church, before his death, made a statement that he had been ordered to release half a ton of forward water ballast, but the ship crashed before he carried out the instructions. Sir William Jowitt added that the experts found that four wrist watches stopped at 2.9 a.m. When the watch was changed at 2 a.m. the airship had an even keel. All engines were running satis-

factorily, after which she nosedived abnormally. She momentarily regained the horizontal, redived and crashed. Sir William Jowitt said that the tests of the elevator wire indicated that it. parted after the fire. Concluding, Sir William Jowitt said that the four main conclusions of the preliminary investigations were:—Firstly: That no part of the main structure broke in the air; secondly, that the impact occurred while the airship was inclined in the nose-dive; thirdly, that the elevator control was found at “full upwards” and the rudder was amidships; fourthly, that there was one violent explosion.