AIR ACCIDENTS.

North Otago Times, Volume CVII, Issue 17748, 12 March 1927, Page 5

AIR ACCIDENTS.

-Press Association—

(Australian and N.Z. Pres3 Association.)

MR BALDWIN EXPLAINS. FINE TYPE OF AVIATORS.

'( Gable—

-Gopyriglit.)

Received Friday, 10.4 p.m. LONDON, March 11In the House of Comnxons, Mr Baldwin made a statement on the subject of accidents in the Air Force hased on personal investigations extendling over several days. It could not be thought, he said, that any particular type of machine was more likely to meet with accident than another. Moreover, the , proportion of accidents due to remedial causes were a small proportion of the whole. While improvement in design was continuous, research was made for safety. A new machine travelled at a greater speed and at greater heights, thereby increasing risks as a slight error of judgment meant disaster. The majority of accidents were traceable to the personal equation. The type wlhich made the greatest airxnen were not the type whichused the motto, "Safety first." He could discover no signs of inefficient training. He thought the training could not be better and the spirit of the Air Force was one of the marvels of the time. There was no finer spii'it in . any service in the wox'ld. As regards econoxhy, he thought the staff of the flying units had been reduced to some-t where near danger point, but it had not affected accidents foi*, if the ground staff was' unable to supervlse all machines,. flying was curtailed. The Air Ministry was allotting some extx-a men to these units. The majority of accidents were due to some error, often a very slight error, of judgment on the part of the pilot. He asked the House and people of the country not to hamper airmen by encouraging the type of criticism which only made them irxtrospective and nervy, but to support them all they could.