The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1910-07-14
FIVE AERO AAU is
DROP 5000 FEET
TO DEATH
Herr Erbslosh, World Renowned
German Scientist, and Four Com
psnions Meet Untimely Death
Bodies Are Terribly Mangled.
Gas Bag Collapses in Mid-Air and
Heavy Car Falls to Earth With
Awful Crash.

COLOGNE, Germany, July a.
Herr Erbsloeh, the worid-renowned
German scientist and aviator and four
-companiuns were dashed to death
today near Pascheid, west Germany,
when the dirigible balloon, the Erbs-
ioeh. named after its inventor and
constructor. fell from height of 5000
feet Five heaps OF crushed flesh and
bone. absolutely unacceptable. lay
beneath the debris of the wrecked bal
loon when those who had Witnessed
The fail reached the spot
The 1irigible Erbsleoh belonged 10
the Rhine AsiiRi cirb. II rssemc,nd
. miniature Zeppelin dlrigible. being
but one-sixth the size OF the eirsnip
% the famous inventor. The Erbsloeh
consisted OF IL balloon nets. placed
hide by side in a rigid and covered
frame, Ike the watretight compart-
meDts OF ship. A long aluminium
car for the engines and passengers
WAS swung below the gas bags. The
car contained two gasoline engines
|0f high power which drove the fore
and after propellers that gave head.
way 20 the airship.
The Erbsloeh had made several
eminently successful short flights ard
was egarded as one of the best types
cE modern dirigibles, being fai less
cumbersome than the monster Yep
pelin.
The dirigible went aloft early today
from Dusseldorf, from which point the
Inflated Zeppelin passenger liner
started her last voyage. In the alunLi-
mum car were Erbsloeh and two com
panions, together with the two chauf-
~ the gasoline engines.
The fatal voyage had lasted only
As minutes. The dirigible was almost
over the village of Pattscheid In the
Rhine province.
Balloonists are divided as to the
probablc' cause OF the accident. Some
believe the suns rays expanded the
tns In the balloonets until they could
NO longer stand the strain. while
others believe one of the 125-horse-
power gasoline motors exploded.
The heavy car and the fragments
81 the gas bag fell like plummet
Erheloeh and his companions fell
1000 feet to instant death. Physicians
who examined the bodies declare they
never saw human forms so horribly
mangled.
The disaster in all details resembles
the one which befell the French army
dirigible several months ago. when
I'VE French ofiicers met death by the
ncllapse OF the gas bag.
Herr Oscar Erbsloeh, the aviator.
was well known in the United States.
having piloted the German balloon
pommern In the international balloon
races held in st. Louis In 1907 The
Pommern rose In St Louis and landed
~ New Jersey, coming down only be-
cause the ocean had been reached.
TOR this flight, the longest OF the race.
Nfbsloeh won the Gordon Bennett cup,
the FIRST prize.
On February 9, 1909. Erbsloeh, with
three companions, made q daring
fight across the Alps. rising from st.
NOritx and remaining in the air 80
hours. landing near Budapest. The
nerOnoid IN the Pommern on this trip,
showed that at one time the balloon
had reached a height OF $4,000 feet
nearly four miles.
The Erbsloeh, in which the aviator
met death today. had capacity OF
1900 cubic metres OF hydrogen gas.
When Erbsloeh and his companions
rose. before the sun had come out, 1t
was noted that the gas bags were com
nletely full. Il is therefore highly
trObable that the heat Of the sun, ex-
handing the gas, caused too great a
strain on the bags: which EMPLOYED.