The Washington herald., 1922-02-23
No Efforts Will Be Spared
To Determine Whether
Defect Was Cause.
SERGEANT PROVES q
DISASTERS HERO
Led Others to Safety
Through Hole Kicked
In Side of GOndola.

NORFOLK, Va, Feb. 22.-Army
air experts are pushing an inves-.
tigatiOn TO determine whether a
defect in construction caused the
army dirigible. the Roma, 10 col
lapse. The dead number thirty
four and the injured eleven.
Before leaving for Washington
tonight Mai. Gen. NJ NJ. Patrick.
chief of the army air service, told
the army board Of inquiry to spare
no effort 10 get at the real cause
Of the disaster.
We want TO know whether Il
was a defect. negligence. OF simply
a prank OF fate" Gen. Patrick
said.
he said that the failure Of the
controls TO work caused the az
foot airship to catapult from a
height estimated at between $50
and 1000 feet The accident oc-
CURED yesterday at the army base
I eight miles from here.
But We want TO know the con-
/ tributing cause" he said
Army air experts are inquirInE
I into the suggestion that the huge
4
six new Liberty engines. which
( recently replaced the old power
I plant. may have been responsible.
/ Army officers who saw the ma
chine fall said that the Roma went
wrong from the moment her nose
was turned while flying over the
army base.
The rudder broke-whether due
TO unaccustomed power Of the
new engines or a defect in con
struction is undetermined-and the
ships nose dipped sharply, these
officers reported.
saw ballast Thrown Out.
They saw the passengers throw
\ ing over the ballast to tighten
/ the ship. but the Roma came down
I with Increasing speed and after
I striking several high-tension wires.
buried her nose in a mass Of rail-
road car parts and collapsed
Both army and navy officers
I are severe in their condemnation
Of Congress for failure to ap-
propriate sufficient money 70 en-
able the army and navy TO manu-
facture helium gas. which is nom
SHfammable.
II Congress had listened TO the
requests of the air service. the
I Roma would have been filled with
helium instead of hydrogen gas
and the great loss Of life would
have been averted, these officers
/ claim.
The commandant OF the United
| States Public Health Service hos
pital at the army base believes
| that many Of the victims lost their
7 Ines by fire.
OF the injured. physicians say.
only four are in serious condition.
I They are Master Sergt. Harry A.
/ Chapman. st. Joseph. No: Maj
I John II. Reardon. Washington: Wal
4 ter 4. McNair. HOughton. Mich. en-
( ployed at the Bureau Of Standards,
! Washington. and {. W. Dvorack.
| Dayton, Ohio. Dvorack is believed
/ fatally hurt.
/ over in Newport News. across the
bay from the army base. the bodies
I Of the victims are being prepared
! for burial. Many Of the bodies
were burned beyond recognition
/ and were identified only by watches
rings or other trinkcts. Langley
/ Field was the chief sufferer by the
disaster. for practically every man
/ who sailed was stationed there.
! The school Of instruction for air
]
practically out of existence. as most
OF the victims were instructors or
students.
HeroIsm OF Sergeant.
Sergt. Chapman will he cited for
, extraordinary heroism. IL officers at
Langley Field and the army base
| can effect it, They proclaimed
| Chapman the hero of the disaster.
While the flames were eating
their way rapidly into the Eondola
/ in which he was stationed with a
number Of other men, Chapman
! ripped a large hole in the side OF
/ the narrow structure and ordered
the others out ahead of him. He
assisted his comrades to safety, one
at a time, and by superhuman
effort managed to throw himself
through the aperture as the flames
enveIoped his body. He sustained
severe burns about the hands, arms.
face and body.
one of the most graphic stories
of the fall of the Roma was tcld
by Capt. Walter J. Reed. Scarsdale.
n. Y. who was badly but not se-
/ riously injured.
His story was repeated to the
| United News by an army officer
who said Reed gave him the fol-
! lowing:
Il was just getting over an at
tack of influenza and therefore
wasn't feeling very well when
went up in the Roma. We started
OF about / 80 and in about a hair
hour I felt myself grow sick At -the
stomach and faint It was rocking,
I suppose. that upset me.
Il was in a rear gondola. and 1
decided to go forward TO cabin
to stretch out for a bit to see IL
that would, make me feel better
I was making my way along wen
forward when something seemed 10
60 wrong. The ships nose seemed
to be tilted too far over. Just as
noticed this. ] heard someone shout
ing - someone saying something
aeout shutting of the motors.
Rush Toward Rear.
Then came the realization that
we were falling. The ships more
slanted far over. and then the r-etf
who were in the front part started
rush TO climb toward tho rear. I
suppose they realized that the nose.
would hit first and wanted to get SO
CO"tinued on Page our.