The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-02-22
GIANT DIRIGlBLE MASS OF WRECKAGE WITHIN HOUR
 AFTER BEGINNING FLIGHT
eContinned From Pnge One.l

(COntinued From Page one5 ticn to her operating crew. As she rose from the field her commander leaned out to signal that he had forty-four persons aboard. It is be- lieved he did not include one civilian on the ship and that she actually carried 45.
 Think Smoke. Seen
 Several eye witnesses watching the Roma soaring above the army base shortly before the death plunge claimed tonight they saw wisps of smoke darGng out of the side of the huge gas bag. A moment later the volume of smoke increased and be- came a yeliowsh glare There the huge blimp whirIed downward. One of the mechanics in the crew of the Roma who was rescued shortly after the big ship hit said, however, 'our rudder broke and the planes did not work. So far as l could sec there was no fire until we hit the ground"
 Col. p. M. Quincy, commandant of the army base, who witnessed the fall of the Roma. bears out this statement. He said he did not see any fire until after the big gas ba g had landed on the ground. As the Roma neared the scene of the disas- ter it was apparent that she was in trouble, officers at the base say. The big rudder seemed to be work ing badly and the crew was desper- ately throwing out ballast Their efforts put the airship on an even keel. but succeeded only minute or two, as she again tilted and began ..I. Ia \. rE-S missing the smokestack of the base power plant. Two sharp explosions were heard before the firemen began fighting the flames. but 1t isg believed they were caused by gasoline in the fuel tanks.
 Engines Running Fine
 Sergeant Peek, an engineer aboard the Roma, said that he was tending his motor in the port rear engine boat. "The Liberty was running fine when we suddenly veered up and started down. l was too insane to think much of anything"
 Joseph N. Biedenbach engineer, was burned about the face and fire The ship just tilted up and started to nose dive. It took about 20 seconds for us to hit the ground and an explosion followed. l was pinned down so that I could not get out The fabric was about me and the girders were all around. I wait ed for the fabric to burn through so l could get out. All the time I was afraid that the big gas envelope be- hind us would explode. As it hap pened the fire reached the fabric be- fore the big explosion. If it had not l could not have gotten out alive"
 Both Biedenbach and Major Raer- den spoke of the gallant way the of fieers remained at their posts. Un til the instant of the crash the of ficers at the wheels stuck.
 One of the survivors said that the Roma often sailed with tilt and that he paid little attention to the initial lift of the tail of the ship un- til he heard a man yell that the craft refused to respond to the helm.
 Bought From Italy
 The airship Roma was an Italian built craft purchased by the United States government from Italy early in 1921 for s2oO.o00 She was, it was believed the largest semi-rigid air craft in the world. the cost of duplt- eating which, it was said by the war department at the time of her pur- chase. would be $1250.00
 The airship was of 1,200,0O cubic feet capacity, 40 feet long. s2 feet