AIRSHIP INQUIRY

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Volume 59, Issue 229, 30 October 1930, Page 7

AIRSHIP INQUIRY

United Press Assn. Electric Cable. Copyright

EXPERTS' STATEMENTS. R101 More Navigable After Inser^ tion Of Bay.

CReceived Tliis Day 3 p.m.) LONDON. .Oct. 29. At- the 11101 inquiry Sir William Jowitt said that Air-Marshal Dowding, in view .of the engine failnre, suggested that there ought to have been a full powered trial hefore tlie India fliglit, liut Major Scott and Wing-Commander Colmore, experienced men, did not suggest its desirahility as delaying the flight, all declaring that the R101 was more navigable after the insertion of the bay. ' Turning to the airsliip's last hours, he pointed out that she reported at midnight that the .altimeter recorded 1500 feet. He believed that when she sent out the final message hefore the crash she was at at least 1100. He did not helieve that rain was a factor in the disaster, as tlie airship reported that she began to recover water ballast, which was unlikely if there liad been difficulty owing to the envelope heing over wet. It was revealed that a portion of the log was recovered from tlie wreckagc. Only a few unimportant figures could he deciphered. It ivas disclosed that Church, hefore liis death, made a statement fchafe he had heen ordered to release half a tqu of krward aater ballast,_ but the snip craslied hefore 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 airsliip had an even keel. All engines were runiiing satisfactorily, after which she nose-dived abnormally. She momentarily regained the horizontal, re-dived 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 hroke in .tlie air ; _ secondly , that the hnpacfc occurred wliile the airship was inclined in the nose-dive ; thirdly, that the elevator control was , found at' "fnll npwards" and the rudder was amidships; fourthly', that there ivas one violent explosion.