The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1930-10-06
lNvESYIGATI0NAS
1OCAUSE STARTED
BY AIR OFFICIALS
Only Seven Of 81 Aboard Sur.
vive impact Against Hill.
side and Explosion
BODIES ARE BADLY BURNED
Pilot Says Terrific Wind and
Rain Storm Made It lmpos-
sibIe to Handle Ship

alrshlp In the world, which Sunday
morning crashed into Z wooded Hill.
side near here and burned.
Forty-eight persons lost their lives
in the disaster. They either were
burned to death or were killed In the
terrific impact. OF the s. aboard,
only seven survived. All were In
jured. some seriously. Among the
dead were Lord Thomson. British air
minister, and Sir Seton Brancker,
director Of civil aviation.
-Grief-stricken at the disaster which
in q moment robbed 1t Of the mistress
Of the air and its finest air talent,
the British government dispatched
Sir John Salmond, air marshal and
chief OF staff, to initiate an inquiry
ana determine circumstances and
cause Of the catastrophe.
French proffers Of cooperation were
accepted. Sir John would say moth,
ing Of the disaster other than that
there was every reason to suppose the
explosion which destroyed the ship
was caused by the brusque landing.
Sir John ordered that every effort
be made to identity the bodies. al
charred beyond recognition, some q
them only bones with scraps Of ten
don attached. So intense was the
heat that rings In some cases were
melted about the fingers OF the 49,
Tins. a monocle found with one
0ody may TX Identity Of ttIAt on.
vince only two Aboard. Lord Thorn
son aud Sir Seton Brancker, used
the single eye-glass- =
Was on Long Flight
The R-lO1, big sister Of the H-100,
which successfully crossed the At
lantic and returned last July, was
seven hours out Of Cardingtcn en-
route to Karacti. India. or an 5000
mile journey when the crash occurred.
After hours Of fighting the violent
storm which ragged yer northwest
France Sunday morning. the dtrigtbie
lost altitude, and sometime after 2
q. m. failed to rise above an enctrcling
rim OF hills about q valley south OF
here. !.
H. J. Leach, engineer Of the Royal
Airship works and pilot Of the ship
at the time, gave the most coherent
account Of the tragedy: I'VE got into
q terrific storm with high winds and
the dirigible simply would not rise.
I gave her more gas to get her up
into the air, but she did not respond.
Rain was falling In such torrents
that our ship was blown down TO
earth. She bumped twice slightly
and then with - terrific impact she
buried her nose into the ground. Inn
mediately there came . TREMENDOUS
explosion, followed by two lesser ones.
and flames engulfed the airship.
IT was shot outside my pilot WIN
dow-I do not know how and-found
myself on the ground. At the mo-
ment Of the catastrophe everybody
aboard except myself and assistant
navigators were asleep. The motors
were turning to perfection, It was the
tempest which caused our destruc-
ton"
Ship Was webbing
Residents about BeauvaE were
awakened first by the motors Of the
shin a it passed low over their heads.
perhaps 100 on 500 feet high. Many
remarked the pilct did not seem IN
absolute control Of the ship, that It
wobbled unnecessarily and did not
, seem to respond to his handling.
The shock Of the explosion which
followed the impact with the hillside
shook the country r. miles around.
The peasants thereabout, unmindful
a. the ~torrential rain ana wind. ran
to the spot. Pillars Of fire rose into
the skies and ilumined . vast area
thereabcut.
The heat stopped them dead q ON
siderable distance away. Much near.
er the flames they could see men
running about frantjcally. Attempt
Ing 10 -breek through the walls Of
the cabins where their comrades At
the flight were imprisoned, one man
could be seen at . window with Q
spanner In his hand attempting to
break through and out. The right
hand Of one Of the bodies recovered
afterward. and unidentified. held .
spanner tightly.
BY .oayhreak the fire had settled
sufficiently TO allow rescue measures
to proceed. but there vas no hope q
finding anyone alive on the ship.
Metal gtrders had to be saved
through to get ct some Of the bodies
which were taken out and laid IN .
dell not far away, covered with
sheets furnished BY the peasAuts,
and tagged according to position IN
the dirieible with the hope that this
would aid In Identification.
- Nn-- %1