Evening star., 1922-02-22
FURNACE IN ROMA
/ AFTER FATAL FALL
Giant DirigibIe Plunged 900
, Feet to Earth and Burst
h. in Flame.
RUDDER D!5 NOT RESPOND
Quick shutting Off of Engines Be-
iesed to Have Saved Lives Of IL
Out of As Aboard.
By the Associated Press.

.
NORFOLK, Va, February "a
Flung earthward. presumably by
broken rudder, the giant Army air.
ship Roma plunged a thousand rect
or more yesterday, to strike srouho
at the Hampton roads Army pase'
capsize across a high-tension electrlc
line and burst into a roaring furnace
of blazing hydrogen gas.
Thirty-four men were killed. eight
were injured seriously and three
were uninjured. The theory is nelo
by some that the airship was SoiaIe
before the disastrous plunge 10 eaI,n.
Three fire departments fought inc
DANES feeding ON a million cubi;
feet of hydrogen gas, with chemicais.
and by pm the fire was out. Derricks
began picking up the wreckaES as
the flames were driven back. inele
was scarcely more than the aluminun,
framework and the six noery
motors to remove. Within the wreck
age lay the bodies. many or tneh
charred beyond direct recognition.
Rudder Slipped to One Side.
Eyewitness who watched the
smash agreed, however. that the huge.
kite-like structure of the stern rudder,
itself as large as a bombing plane.
had slipped to one side as the Roma
drove along a thousand feet above the
Army base.
The explosion sent flames 500 feet In
the air, as eight of her survivors
leaned from the deck of the ship
Three others were dragged from the
mass Of 'wreckage and flames .
only those in the forward part OF
the operating compartment of the
ship had a chance for their lives.
Several were injured severely by
jumping, but three came out practl
cally unhurt and were discharged
from the hospital within a 1e" noufs
after the disaster.
Up Only Short Time.
Lieut.. Burt, who with Capt. Reed.
was the principal pilot OF the
Roma was one of these. He jumped
when the ship was only a Few yards
from the ground. A civilian. hoy
Hurley, also escaped unhurt, as olo
Hurley's first flight. ut was the first
time 1 had ever been up. and when the
Roma started to swing l didn't KNOW
anything was wrong. tnousnt she
was acting all right: l didn't know
different. 1t was not until the ma,
chine hit the ground that I realized
she was wrecked. She was sahihg
along smoothly and she was coming
straight from the Langley Field. we
were up only a short time when we
fell.
was insane.
Dropped In Twenty Seconds.
sergt. Peek, an engineer aboard the
Roma said that he was tending his
motor, in the port rear engine ooat.
'The Liberty was running nne wnen
we suddenly veered up ana nosea
down. / was too insane to think
much of anything"
Joseph n. Biedenbeck. engineer, was
burned about the face and hands. ae
said: "I didn't see any fire. The ship
iust tilted up and started to nose dive.
1t took about twenty seconds Tor US
to hit the ground and an explosion
followed. I was pinned down 50 that
I could not get out. The fanr1c was
about me and the girders were all
around. 1 waited for the fabric to
burn through so I could get out. All
the time I was afraid that the big gas
envelope behind US would explode. AS
it happened, the fire reached the RAD
ric before the big explosion. II 1t had
not, I could never have gotten out
alive, saw one man try a jump. I
don't know who he was or If he made
a safe landing. We hit right after
that We were too low Tor ANYBODY
to make a safe jump"
Both Biedenbeck and Ma. Reardon
spoke of the gallant way the officers
remained at their posts. Until the in
stant of the crash. the officers at the
wheels stuck.
Often Sailed With Tilt
Ono of the survivors said that the
Roma often sailed with a little tilt
- and that he paid little attention to
the initial lift of the tail OF the ship
until he heard a man yell that the
craft refused to respond to the neim:
One of the mechanics in the crew OF
porna who was rescued SnOrCly