The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 1931. THE R101 DISASTER.

Hokitika Guardian, 27 March 1931, Page 4

The Guardian And Evening Star, with which is incorporated the West Coast Times. FRIDAY, MARCH 27, 1931. THE RlOl DISASTER.

A i.tiiouou more thall „ three months have elapsed since tfie adjournment of the Court, of ihquiry into the eifeumstances surrounding the disaster that, befell the airship 11101 on her trial flight. t.O India on October o, the official report of the findings of the court the Otago Times points out, lms not yet been issued. Wo have no means of knowing through what channels the Daily Herald obtained its exclusive in- ' formation on the subject, but there would appear to be no reason to doubt the reliability of the revelations made by that journal in respect of certain aspects of the report which may be expected to be delivered in the course of a few weeks. That no blame is attachable to the Air Ministry would seem to be one of the significant features of the findings, particularly inasmuch as the evidence adduced at the inquiry strongly suggested that Lord Thomson exerted no little pressure upon his officials in order to secure an early, if not premature commencement of a flight, in respect to which the preliminary tests were less exhaustive than they might have been. Nevertheless, it is pleasing to reflect that no posthumous slight need be placed upon either Lord Thomson or the commander of the ship, FlightLieutenant Irwin. In concluding that the 48 victims of the crash lost their lives through misadventure arising out of the tearing of the fabric of the gasbags under stress of the storm, the court would appear to have discarded ns inconclusive much of the evidence ill respect to the unsatisfactory state of the gasbags. prior to departure from Cardingfoit. One of the striking features of the inquiry tv as unquestionably the theoretical recoJi-% struct-ion of what happened by Dr. Eekenor, the designer and commander of the Graf Zeppelin, who also left no doubts in the minds of the investigators as to tlie competence of the commander and his use of every possible expedient in his endeavours to save the airship after its first dive. The loss of gas, upon which lighter than air craft depend for their buoyancy and altitude, was regarded as a contingency for which the commander could not. be held responsible. When ho bad once lost altitude, the equilibrium of his ship was destroyed and a crash was inevitable, despite bis last resort of shutting off the engines separately—a course which. according to Dr. Eckener, could lie expected to effect no more than a reduction in the severity of the fall. Tn the opinion of the court there would appear to he adequate grounds for tlie expression of complete confidence in the structure of the RlOl, although it is admitted that absolute certainty concerning the actual cause of the occurrence cannot ever lie- expected. Under tlie keen direction of Sir John Simon, it was a very searching investigation and it produced some perturbing evidence, the final analysis of 'which will be awaited with interest,, ft was probably with such testimony in mind that Sir John Simon remarked at the final session of the court in December last: “I would like to make it- quite plain that, so far as 1 see it at present. I do not think there is any question that there was not tlie most elaborate care taken both in the design and the calculation of stresses, and in the inspection in detail of the construction of the ship. I would he very sorry if any other impression was created.”