Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1922-02-23
ARMY AIR CHIEF
BLANES WRECK
ON THE RUDDER
General Patrick Bases Opin'
ion on Testimony OF
Eyewitnesses
BOARD is SECRET
Air Officers State Fire Did not start
Until Roma Hit Electric wires
Five Points Established

Norfolk, Va. Feb. pa statement
by Major General Mason NJ. Patrick,
head of the Army Air Service, that ne
believed the destruction OF the alrshlp
Roma was due to an accident to the
controls regulating the altitude OF
| the craft stood out last night as the
! only official statement from any OIL
those investigating the accident Wh!ch
caused the death of 81 persons Tues
day. the injury of others and the
demolition of the worlds largest SEMI
rigid arship.
Meanwhile the army board of in
vestigators, called into session yester-
day. continued it's hearings tonight be-
! hind closed doors. None of the pro.
ceedings were allowed to seep out OF
the quarters occupied BY the board.
General Patrick expressed his opin-
, ion on the basis of testimony he had
heard thus far and substantiated
{ statements previously made unoiii-
cially bv survivors of the wreck that
the elevating rudder, = contrivance
resembling the wings of an airplane
and attachcd>to the stern of the Roma,
bucklcd and fell forward, forcing the
craft into nose dive, which ended
when she crashed into a high-power
electric transmission line, causing the
fire, and burned with the greater num-
Der of the crew and passengers pinned
beneath.
General Patrick left last night for
| a
commandant of the army air station,
at Langley Field, assisted General
Patrick in the investigation.
The actual cause of the fire is not
regarded as Of supreme Importance
for, according to Colonel Fisher, the
wrecked dirieible would have burned
even if it had not come in contact with
the wires. When the nose Of the ar
ship crashed against the ground the
big gasoline tanks burst and an IN
hammable liquid stTeamed over the
wreckage. feeding the flames that had
started when the canvas bag OF the
craft struck against the electric wires
"If there had been no blaze before
the Roma crashed to the ground,
Colonel Fisher declared, "the me1
trapped under the steel and canvas OF
the ships rigging doubtless would
have been burned to death anyway, fo1
the gasoline that poured out of the
tanks over the wreckage would have
ignited from the engines"
Only tangled mass of what was
once the steel framework of the proud
queen of the army air fleet remained
tonight to mark the spot at the Hamp
ton Roads army base. where the Roma
fell Meanwhile at Newport News
whore the dead were taken, relative;
and friends arrived to identify the
bodies and make arrangements fol
having them removed to their home:
for burial
1t was reiterated by army officer:
. that there twas no explosion or flrt
while the Roma was in the air. Gen
eral Patrick. who came here by air
plane from Washington immediatel!
upon being advised of the accident. de
clared there had been none, adding
that the fire and. resultant explosion
were caused by the high tension elec
trio wires which the Roma strucl
when it plunged to earth. In hi:
statement. General Patrick said:
"From the testimony | have heart
so far it; sintiIcated that thedisastel
was due to an accident to the controls
regulating the altitude of the Roma
The ship came down, striking high
tension electric wires, which caused
the fire. There was no explosion an;
no fire while the ship was in the air.
! Continued on page three)