Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1922-02-22

a charred skeleton OF twisted metaL
splashed with bits OF frayed bunting,
marks the spot where thirty four Amer
lean Army birdmen died in the crash Of
the semi-rigid dirigible Roma, once the
/ pride Of the Italian air forces.
While three concurrent investigations
were being rushed by Army officials,
fellow airmen honored their dead as cru
| saders Of the sky who were suddenly
Overtaken by a tickle fate.
| There are eleven survivors Of the crash
and the terrific fire that made a faneFal
| pyre OF the Tracked airmen. Those
( Of the survivors able to talk blamed the
| catastrophe on broken elevating controls
and s Liberty motor that went dead
The Roma was making its first test uight
1 after Liberty motors had replaced the
original Italian engines.
MEN NEVER HAD
CHANCE TO ESCAPE.
Out Of the maze Of counter stories, It
was apparent that the crew and passen-
gers Of the Roma, for the most part.
never had a chance to escape" Trapped
beneath the falling envelope Of the bag,
they were blastened into blackensd,
shriveled corpses in the first great ak
plosiOn that followed the crash. The
handful who escaped either dove from
the cabins just before the crash or else
landed in deep gulleys that erisscrossed
the field on which the Roma fell. These
guneys provided protection from TIE blast
. for a Few.
The bodies Of the dead, most Of then
charred beyond recognition, lay in a tiny
morgue at Newport News, Va, across
he bay from the scene of the catastrophe
-Four great Army and Navy bases, touch
ing on Hampton Roads. meanwhile paid
honorpd tribute TO the air victims
Bodies of the victims of the Roma dis
aster which are not inferred in Airing
ton National Cemetery here. viii be ac-
companied TO the homes OF the men By
officers of the Army Air Service, accord
ing to orders dispatched to Major Pat
rick at Norfolk by the Adjutant General
of the Army.
The three Investigations into the crash
are being conducted by Major General
Patrick, chief Of the Army Air Service,
y no came from Washington by airplane;
by Lieut.. Col Arthur G. Fisher. acting
commandant at the flying field. who or
dered the Roma up" on its last fight,
and by Mai. E. I. Kennedy, summary
court officer, who is the Army coroner"
Major Kennedy announced be would
swear in a jury and hold an inquest over
the bodies. He will determine RESPONSE
bnity for the accident for the local mill,
IarE authorities.
The crash, which occurred within the
Army supply base grounds here, termi-
mated what was 20 have been q test fight
of the Roma under power of new Liberty
motors. The airship, after rising above
its hangar at Langley field, crossed
Hampton Roads IN a long, sweeping
circle. While still above the bay the
ship developed head trouble" according
sto survivors and observers. She nosed
downward. settling slowly at first, but
in a few minutes diving earthward at an
angle OF 40 degrees with increasing speed
CRASHED INTO
PILES OF JUNK.
The big engines were silenced and thu
bag fioated. It grazed electric overhead
wires. running along a camp roadway,
and crashed into piles of Army junk. A
terrific blast of fame followed with an
ear-deafening roar. Calm observers de-
clared the fame leaped eight hundred
feet in the air. The whole ship than
burst into fames an hour, minOa
explosions occurn - a few tanks OF
ga soline or hydrogen blew up.
Army fremen and men from the Naval
and Army bases on the Hampton Roads
side Of the bay rushed to rescue the i'm
prisOned airmen. They were unable TO
effect any rescues for an hour as the
Continued on Page Nine.)