LONDON-CAIRO AIR DEATHS

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 73, 19 December 1919, Page 9

LONDON-CAIRO AIR DEATHS

GENERAL SEELY'S INQUIRY. The high death roll claimed by the trunk nir route between London nm\ Cairo hns been the subject of an inquiry bv General Seoly, Chief of the Air Ministry. Tho "Daily Mail" was informed that in the last few months eleven airmen! flvinsr Air Ministry machines to Egypt havo lost their lives through failure of their encines ovor the Mediterranean or throusrh crashing when landing on unsuitable acwiromcs. <, The Air Ministry Commission was. to investigate tho condition of tho machines at starting, and whether adeauate arrangements wore made at the refilling points. Ono of tho airmen killed is Captain C. H. Darlev. D.S.C., D.F.C., who early this ve«r made a flight to Madrid in a fmir-oncin-jd Handley Pago machine. Cantain Parley,...it is, understood, was killed on September. -29 at B'racoiano, near Rome, when his Vickers-.Vimy twinengine ma-cLino crashed and caught fire. On-his .return from a flight'to Nice Lieutenant-Colonel G. L- P. Henoerson, M,C. A.F.C., until lately in charge of tho Avro pessonger (lying, at Hounslow, told the .London "Evening News" that ho had given ."his solemn promise to officers stranded along the routo to got the nresmit stata of affair.; remedied."

''Three sfiu.adrons of .Handley Page machines." said Colonel, Henderson, "wero Ordered to proceed from their depots in France to Egypt.. . I understand th.it Hfl.Dcr cent, of them failed to reach their dnstination-i. To my knowledge eleven airmen were killed, including Captain Darlov. Cnses were brought to my nolico of officers aiul men stranded in Italy for weeks without any pay. "One' Handloy Page with two pilots fell into the. water. One pilot was rescued bv "tho Italians,, the other was drownod. The rescued man was 'immediately sent: hackfoi another'maehine, and it was on his seeqnn. attempt that I found him 'down' with troubles of .ill sons, doing his utmost to ropair his maehiim.

"If. is not the fault of the machines, nor the. pilots. There was a complete lack comet-tent vjggers and mechanics. There-is no orgaiiisation, and after leavintr Marseilles the conditions are appallinc. ' . "There h a 250-mile flight across water to be made, and at present thereis no machine that could be run on that route bv any commercial firm with a hope of making it a success.

"No business concern, would ever «t----teinut to transport' machines to Egypt bv air It. would be far cheaper' to nnc , ; them and sonil them by water.

"Between Marseilles and Nice I came across wrsckw Ilandlcy Pages, or ra'her .ill that was left of them." Colonel Henderson continued: "Quite apart from the irreparable loss of those gallant fellow?. I havo spoken <if. "i« accidents wnnwont. a Bum of .£110,000."

"T oskod a lot of follow:, wiiom I came . fi-<Tns3. slriiTidcd on what thp A'r Minis- | trv chills tho 'Illazing Trail,' .the cause , of their troubles. In nearly every earn | it will tho same. Rubhor comisctio'i of t viirioii' warts of the. engine had perished,,, anil others rurts were in a deplorable condition: onil there was no export nssi.=tniipi» within -liundrtns of mi'.o.s.

"1 wniit. to mako it rlonr that I do not think tl)f> msts with the military sitlo of tho R.A.F., who ] kno'i- aro engaged on very excellent work."