The Daily News. MONDAY, AUGUST 29, 1921. THE AIRSHIP DISASTER.

Taranaki Daily News, 29 August 1921, Page 4

The Daily News. MONDAY, AUGUST 29, 1921. THE AIRSHIP DISASTER.

The terrible disaster that overtook the airship R3B while making a trial trip over Hull comes as a grief and shock to the world generally, while the great loss of valuable lives engenders the deepest sympathy for the bereaved. It was one of those appalling catastrophes that demonstrate the slightness of the thread between life and death. Always there is risk of accidents happening to aircraft, though the dangers of motoring are also considerable. A slight weakness or flaw in the framework of an airship means certain collapse sooner or later; yet the same may be said of all means of transport. Greatly as will this disaster be taken to heart, it will not stay the creation of other monster airships, though it may lead to a more minute inspection and testing of tie various parts of the structures. The marvel is that any of those on board escaped death; that even five out of fifty-one persons were saved from sudden destruction. Not only did the vessel break in halves, but an explosion and fire followed. Had it not been for the accident happening over the river it is possible none would have escaped both the results of the explosion and the crash of the sundered machine. Necessarily in the case of aircraft lightness of material is a great consideration, and it wpuld seem that safety is liable to be sacrificed in favor of weight. If the statement of an American member of the crew is reliable, there is said to have been trouble on a previous trial, when a girder broke and others buckled at practically the same spot where the fatal break occurred. The cause is one for experts to investigate, but it would seem that the larger the airship the greater is the risk of some main part beii-g strained beyond its strength, and there may be some ground for the suggestion that the R3S disaster was due to too sharp an alteration of her course, which would certainly cause considerable strain. The science of aircraft construction is still in its infancy, and much has yet to be learned that, unfortunately, can only be the result of failures. All the same, there is no doubt that, in spite of all risks, the makers of these huge machines will continue to carry on the work, and that the public will not be deterred from sailing in the air because of the dangers attaching thereto. Meanwhile we can but deplore the loss of life, and hope that as time goes on the dangers will be eliminated as far as possible, for. aerial transit has come to stay.