No negligence

in tragic air crash

From an Apia correspondent There were no suspicious cir cumstances—or any negligence —surrounding the crash in January of a Polynesian Airlines DCS, when all 32 on board were killed. This is the finding of the official inquiry into the accident, the report of which was released

in July in Apia.

The inquiry was conducted by the Chief Inspector of Air Accidents in New Zealand, Mr. E. F. Harvie, by arrangement with the Western Samoan Government.

The aircraft was piloted by Captain S. I. Arvidson, and carried a first officer, hostess and 29 passengers, including eight children, when it set off from Samoa’s Faleolo Airport for Pago Pago, American Samoa, about 3 a.m. on January 13.

Within a minute or two of take-off, the aircraft was seen to dive into the sea and explode.

The inquiry found that the aircraft had taken off head-on into a violent squall which caused the pilot to lose control at a critical time.

The inquiry added that in principle, to put a captain of only limited ex perience with an almost brand-new first officer would not be considered normal practice in most airlines. But in mitigation, it was “important to record that in a small airline with

only two other full crews available for duty at a busy time of year, and in consideration of difficulties bound to be associated therewith, they may well have been no reason able alternative”.

In any event, there was no justification for believing the pilot was responsible for the accident, and there was nothing wrong with the aircraft maintenance.

Captain Harvie said an impression did persist that because the flight was running late, a need to hurry was imperative in the minds of all con nected with the dispatch of the aircraft. Many factors did seem to add up “to a belief that, had there been less general haste, and every part of every operation, both on the ground and in the air, been taken at a normal pace, quietly and calmly, the consequences might have been different”.

Captain Harvie was critical of the interference with parts of the wreck age of the aircraft by sightseers and people who had gone into the sea to look for survivors. Switches, levers and other controls, the study of which might have helped the inquiry, had been interfered with, although probably not maliciously.

Samoans have greeted the accident report with a scepticism they usually reserve for any official explanation.

There are still plenty of people who believe the true story has not been told at this exhaustive and thorough inquiry. The Samoan public would rather speculate about unknown fac tors than consider the case closed.

They were, in fact, disappointed they couldn’t find a scapegoat for the tragedy.

New Posting

Mr. L. M. Davies, CMG, Chief Secretary of the Western Pacific High Commission since 1965, has been appointed Deputy Governor of the Bahamas and will leave Honiara on September 10.