Arizona republican., 1922-02-22

or through holes they tore in the
fabric sides that enclosed them some
Faped from the platform where the
ehglnes stood, far out from the hull
80 ilerce was the flare of the gas
Ata.ne that rescuers were driven back
gaiore It's terrific heat. They watched
ISlpiessiy as the great so foot bag
SURVEYED In the base OF the liberated
sas. Ihe Roma was a wall of flame
Diock long and until the thousands
OF gallons of chemicals and water
mad checked the holocaust ii was
impossible to reach the men mangled
ana dead in that fiery furnace. The
ship left no passenger list behind her
When she set out of ra brief trial run
from Langley. She is known to have
carried many officers and men as
passengers. however. in addition TO
her operating crew. AS she rose from
the field. her commander leaned out
to signal that he had a. persons on
board. 1t is believed he did not in
cIude one civilian on the ship and
that she actually carried 45.
Only those in the forward part Of
the operating compartment Of the
ship had chance for their lives
Several were injured severely by
jumping, but three came out prac-
tically unhurt
Lieutenant Burt who. with Captain
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.
Survivors Tell Story
Albert Flores. who was in the OBJ
servers pit on the top Of the bag,
said:
II felt the ship tilt up from the
back and started to slide down. /
tried to go down inside but then
decided to come out forward again.
BY that time we hit the earth and
was thrown out on the ground"
FLORES was burned about the hands
and Is suffering from shock. Nal. J.
ID. Reardon, who was in the control
cabin at the time of the accident,
said that the work Of the officers in
charge was excellent.
t'Lieutenant Burt and Captain Ma
bYy were at their wheels" the major
said. 'The ship gave duck and
saw Lieutenant Burt pull with all
his might on the elevation lever. He
yelled out, she won't respond and
then Cut the motors!' One by one
] heard the motors shut off and then
we struck. II the motors had not
been shut off we would have hit the
ground much harder"
When asked IL he had seen any
flame he said that he had not.
Ray Hurley, civilian and engine ex-
pert, suffered a slight strain OF one
arm and burns about the hands. The
trip was Hurley's first flight. 1T
was the first time had ever been
up," he said, "and when the Roma
started to swing / didn't know any
thing was wrong. / thought she was
acting all right: I didn't know diff
ferent. 1t was not until the machine
hit the ground that I realized she
was wrecked. She was sailing along
smoothly and she was coming straight
from the Langley field. We were UP
only a short time when we fell"
One Of the mechanics in the crew
OF the Roma, who was rescued short
ly 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"
Col. p. M. Quincy, commandant OF
army base who had witnessed the
tan of the Roma. bore out this state
ment. He said he did not see any
fire until after the big gas bag had
landed on the ground.
Joseph 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 a little 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
,.efirae6 fn resnond to the helm.