R101 would generate favourable publicity for the airship programme. The final trial flight of R101 was originally scheduled for 26 September 1930, but high winds delayed the move from the shed until 1 October. That evening, R101 slipped the mast for its only trial flight before setting off for India. This lasted 16 hours 51 minutes and was undertaken under near-ideal weather conditions; because of the failure of the oil cooler in one engine, it was not possible to carry out full speed trials. The flight was curtailed because of the need to prepare the airship for the flight to India.
1934 Air France Wibault 282T crash had been observed. The Dover lifeboat also joined the search. No trace of the aircraft was found during the search, which was hampered by thick fog. The Folkestone lifeboat did not return to its station until after 22:00 GMT. The lack of an SOS call from the aircraft indicated that it had crashed into the sea while attempting to fly below the low cloudbase. On 18 May, a mailbag from the aircraft was washed up on the French coast. The nationalities of the casualties were:- 1934 Air France Wibault 282T crash The 1934 Air France Wibault 282T crash occurred on