Norwich bulletin. [volume] (Norwich, Conn.) 1895-2011, 1922-02-22

ers pit on top Of the bag. said: "I felt |
the ship tilt up from the back and start to
slip down. I tried to go back down In |
side but then l decided to come out for |
ward again. By that time we hit the
ground and l was thrown out on the
ground" Flores was burned about the
hands and is suffering from shock.
Major ]. D. Reardon, who was In the
control cabin at the time of the accident,
said that the work of the officers in
charge was excellent
Lieutenant Burt and Captain Msbry
were at their Wheels the major said.
The ship gave a duck and I saw Liauten-
ant Burt pull with all his hight on the
elevation lever. He yelled out She won't
respond, and then, Cut the nrotors One
by one ! heard the motors shut off and
! then we struck. II the motors had not
been shut off we would have htt the ground
much harder"
| When asked If he had seen any flames
he said he had not
RayS hurley, a civilian and engine ex-
pert was aboard and suffered a. slight
| Sprsin Of one arm and burns about the
\ hand. The trip was Hurley's first flight.
1T was the first time l had ever been
up" he said, land when the Roma. started
to swing I didn't know anything was
wrong. l thought she was acting all
right. didn't know different. 1t was rot
Until the machine hit the ground that l
realized she was wrecked. She was sail
ing along smoothly and she was coming
straight from the Langley Field. We were
| up only short time when we FELL
One of the mechanics in the crew Of the
Roma, who wa rescued shortly after the
big ship hit said Our rudder broke and
the planes did not work, so far as could
see there was no fire until We hit the
ground
Colonel P. NJ Quincy, commandant of
the army base vino witnessed the fall Of
the Roma, bore out this statement He
said he did not see any fire until after the
big gas bag had landed on the ground.
As the Roma feared the scene OF the
disaster It was apparent she was in
trouble, other officers at the base said. The
big rudders seemed to be working badly
and the crew was desperately throwing
off ballast Their efforts to nut tl1a
big airshso on an even keel however, sue
ceded for only a minute or two as the ship
again tilted and began plunging toward
the earth narrowly missing the snokestack
Of the base power plant but falling to
clear the net work of high voltage electric
wires which covered the spot where the
Roma was destroyed. Two sham explo-
sions were heard before the iremen began
fighting the flames but 1t Is believed these
were caused by gasoline in the fuel tanks.
Sergeant Peek, an engineer aboard the
Roma saId he was teindirg his motor in
the port rear engine boat THE Liberty
was running f1ne," he declared, when we
suddenly veered up and nosed down. I
was too insane to think much of any
thing"
Joseph n. Biedenbeck, engineer was
burned about the face and hands He said
| Ina ~
tilted rp and started to nose dive When
we hit the ground an explosion followed
l was pinned so that I could not get out
All the TIME l was afraid that the big gas
envelope behind us would explode. As II
happened te fire reached the fabric be-
fore the big explosion. If it had not,
could naver have gotten out alive. 1 saw
one man try jump. 1 don't know
who he was or II he made safe landing
We hit right after that. We were toe
low for anybody to make a safe jIIrnp"
Both Biedenbeck and Major Reardor
spoke Of tn egallant way the officers re
mained at their posts. Until the instant
of the crash the officers stuck at tht
wheels.
One Of the survivors said that the Roma
. often lied with a little tilt and that h.
paid little attention to the initial life Of
the Tail of the spund he heard man Vel
Jnat Lne Grant refused 10 respond 70 LHt
helm.
: The airship Roma was an Italian-buil
: craft, purchased by the United States
5 government from Italy early in 19219fol
2 5000, 900. She was, 1t was believed, thu
2 largest semi-riged aircraft In the worlt
( the cost Of duplicating which, It was salt
by the war department at the time o
= her purchase, would probably be 81.
g ESQ, 900.
The airship was Of 1, 200, 900 cubic fee
capacity, 410 feet long, 50 feet wide an,
: sSlz feet high. She was originally equip
ped with six 12-cylinder engines Of 40
horsepower each. giving an estimates
> speed Of so miles an hour, and cruis
ing radius at full speed Of $500 miles
These engines, however, were replace
e with Liberty motors after the airsht
was brought to the United States
An American crew was sent to Rom
. TO make tests Of the Roma in Italy an
after these had been completed the air
craft was dismantled and shipped I
4 this country, reaching here last sun
: Continued on Page Six, Col. Four