Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1922-02-22

Is known to have carried many Of
Ulcers and men as passengers, how
ever, in addition to her operating
crew. AS she rose from the field
her commander leaned out to sig
nal that he had forty-four persons
aboard 1t is believed he did not
include one civilian on the ship ano
that she actually carried forty five
of helium. the new n-inflama bic
gas, first produced during the war
to fill her great bag, todays acct.
dent almost certainly would have
been far less terrible. There would
have been no fire after the crash
at least, it was said, and it was the
terrible heat of the blazing hydro.
gen which apparently brought
death to more than thirty men
But so far, only sufficient helium
has been produced to initiate the
naval blimp CT, a mere plgmy shir
Of the air beside the Roma.
Several Hurt BY jumping,
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
practically unhurt.
Lieutenant Burt, who, with Can
tain 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, Roy Hurley, also escaped
unhurt as did Master Sergeant
Peek.
Albert Flores, who was in the
observers pit on top of the bag,
said:
Il felt the ship tilt up from the
back and started to slide down. !
tried to so down inside but then |
decided to come out forward again,
BY that time we hit the earth and
l was thrown out on the ground"
Flores was burned about the
hands and Is suffering from shock,
Major j, 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
Mabry were at their wheels" the
major said. THE ship gave a duck
and saw Lieutenant Burt pull
with all his might on the elevation
lever. lie yelled cut, She won't
respond, and then, cut the motors.
S'spond,' and then, cut the motors y
shut off and then we struck. If the
motors had not been shut off we
would have hit the ground much
harder"
When asked If he had seen any
flame, he said that he had not.
Ray Hurley, civilian and engine
expert, suffered a slight sprain of
enc arm and burns about the hands.
The trip was Hurley's first flight.
1T was the first time | had ever
been up" he said, land when the
Roma started to swing, l didn't
know anything was wrong.
thought she was acting all right;
| didn't know different. 1t was
not until the machine hit the
ground that l realized she was
wrecked. She was sailing along
smoothly and she was coming
from the Langley Field. We
were up only short time when we
fell"
Says Rudder Broke.
One Of the mechanics in the crew
of the Roma who was rescued
shortly after the big ship hit, said:
Our rudder broke and the planes
did not work; 80 far as l could see
there was no fire until we hit tae
ground"
Colonel P. M. Quincy, command
ant Of the army base, who 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.
Joseph N. Biedenbeck, engineer,
was burned about the face and
hands. He said:
II didn't see any fire. The ship
Just tilted up and started to nose
dive"
One of the survivors said that the
Roma often sailed with 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