IN THE AIR.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume XI, Issue 3341, 20 November 1919, Page 5

IN THE AIR.

' POULET,’S ENCOUNTER WITH [ ARABS. }‘ FATAL AEROPLANE ACCIDENT. I, ___.... i Received 8.45 am. PARIS, Nov. 18. Poulet’s encounter with Arabs led to bloodshed. The natives who were attacking had several wounded. A “ CAIRO, Nov. 18. I Ross and Smith have arrived. } A French aeroplane: flying at a {great height, and carrying seven per%sons, fell near Gtiaralajaral. There ‘were killed and the remainder badly injured. MESSAGE FROM ROSS & SMITH Received 11.55 a.m. 'SYDNEY_, This Day. The Sun’s special messages frozn Ross and Smith show the journey from Rome to Sud‘a Bay in Crete was mark- ‘ ed mostly by wind and rain after] passing the mountains. He flew low} over Vesuvius, but the weather \xfas'j too bad to obtain photographs. ',CrOSs--§ ing the Mediterranean from Sudan: Bay, he had to fly at an altitude of: 2000 feet most of the way, owing to; clouds and rain. He took two andi a -half hours to strike the African} coast. Thence he flew across the des- i ert to Cairo. Thirty flying hours so‘ far have occupied, mostly through rain N and storms. The greatest assistance, was rendered by aerial route stn.tiollS.‘i The machine is going perfectly. 1

INQUEST ON A-LLIANCE AnnoPLANE ACCIDENT. Received 9.0 a.m. LONDON, Nov. 17. M A verdict of accidental death was returned on Douglas and Ross at Surbiton, no blame -attaching to the designers and makers of the aeroplane or the engines. , SCENE AT ‘THE, INQUEST. ' MISS WOOLLEY’S PAS'SIONA'.I‘E' . PROTEST. , A MACIHINTE p NOT SUFFICIENTLY . ' TESTED. “ INTERJECTOR PUT our on ' A counr. ' Received 9.15 a.m, ' ' -LONDON, Nov. 17. At the inquest, J. B. Peters, who designed the machine and piloted. a similar one from London to Madrid, said Douglass and Ross were trained in every detail in order to deal with repairs en route-. ‘The machine was in perfect condition ‘when it started, and weighed less than six thousand pounds, being four hundred less than the Madrid machine. The examination of the wreckage and subsequenlt strip~ ping of the engines showed no mechanical defect. Witness produced Ross’ brief log, which throws no light on the accident. There was only one entry, showing an altitude of 1200 feet when ‘he left Houn-slow.; '\Vitness’s theory was that the machine came out of a cloud in a spin with the engine oif. The pilot apparently put the nose down in order to straighten her out, but had insuflicient altitude to right himself. Miss Mabel Woolley, Douglass’ fiancee, intervened during Peters’ evidence with a passionate protest that the airmen were allowed to depart without the machine being thoroughly tested, and declared Douglas told her no test was made with the full wireless equipment aboard, except the action to Hounslow_ She asked, angrily, if five minutes flight was a sufiicient test for a journey to Austra-1 lia. ;

Peters said the machine was in the air three-quarters of an hour the» pre« vious afternoon.

A friend of Douglass’ in the public gallery, constantly attempted to put questions regarding flying fiestg be-* tween October 10th and the day of the departure. He declared the Court was packefi. and asserted the coroner was failing in his duty. M The coroner ordered the police to remove the itnterjeetor.

After the 'm‘edical« evidence. the coroner summed up. He had no doubt the Air Ministry and the Australian authori-fies woulbd investigate ‘the points raised igregulafly. He had no doubt death was due to *acciden‘ta.] causes.