§ Mr. LEESasked the Under-Secretary of State for Air if he has yet received any official report on the loss of the air liner "City of Rome"; and whether he is satisfied that all reasonable steps were taken to rescue the passengers and crew?
§ Mr. MONTAGUEA report upon this most regrettable loss has been received from the British Consul at Spezia, through the Consul-General at Genoa. It goes to confirm the view that the immediate cause of the loss was the breaking of the tow-line which the captain of the Italian steamer "Famiglia" had succeeded in passing to the flying-boat, the subsequent inability of the "Famiglia" to find the flying-boat again in the darkness and heavy weather, and the eventual foundering of the flying-boat in the gale. It throws no light on the initial cause of the disaster, the forced descent upon the water. It is known that one of the engines developed some fault, and finally stopped, but, in view of the complete loss of the flying-boat, the reason for this can hardly now be ascertainable. The answer to the last part of the question is that I have no reason to think that anything more could have been done than was done in the very difficult conditions that existed, but I understand that this aspect of the matter is being examined by the Italian authorities.