Evening star., 1924-10-10
ARMY BL|MP, TC!2,
WRECKED BY BOMB;
FIVE Of CREW HURT
Premature Blast Tears Silk
Bag $50 Feet in Air-No
Time for Parachutes.
HELiUM GAS SAVES LIVES
OF MEN, EXPERTS HOLD
Lieuts. Martin and Puryear Sc
riously Injured-Three Ser
geants Shocked.
By the Associated Press.

By the Associated Press
NEW PORT NEWS. Va, October
l0.-Two officers and three men were
Injured. some of them seriously when
the United States Army bIimp TC-G
was sent crashing to the earth short
lS before noon today by the prema- =
ture explosion of q bomb.
The injured were rushed to the
! base hospital at Fort Monroe by air
plane and ambulance Licuts. Bruce
Martin and Alfred Puryear are be-
! lieved TO have been seriously hurt.
although the exact condition OF none
OF the five has as vet been deter
mined. The others are Master Sergt
Fitch and Sergts. Wells and Jacobs
Were at Target Practice.
gs At least two OF the injured were
thought to have been hurt internally
when the biz bomb exploded as il
was about 10 be released in target
practice and sent the craft crashing the
40 feet to earth.
For the first few seconds the CTaft
fei slowly, but spectators below soon
saw puff of smoke. heard a muf-
He'd roar of the pomb and then the hiss
of gas and the blimp hurtled plummet-
like to earth. 1t did not catch fire but
struck the ground with force that twist
ed Il into mass OF ruins.
Blast Is Premature.
The TC-2 came here Yesterday from
the Army proving grounds at Aberdeen.
Md. to participate in the bombing
maneuvers which got under way last
night 1t was on It's first fight here this
morning when the bomb carried be
meath the basket and about to be re-
leased from a low attitude at a target
below, exploded prematureiy 4 board
of inquiry viii be appointed this after
noon, it was announced at Langley
Field. to investigate the cause of the ex-
ploSion.
the gas bag OF the ship. which came
to the ground as the non -infiamma bl e
helium with which the bag was filled
escaped. The crew had no time to
take To their parachutes.
+ The full extent of the damage to
the ship has not been determined
beyond the fact that the gas bag
was severely torn by the explosion
and fall which followed The fact
that the ship was inflated with nom
explosive helium gas probably pre-
vented her complete destruction and
the loss of the lives of all the mem
bers of her crew
The TC2 has a length of 1876 feet
and an overall height of SO feet.
1t was constructed for training pur-
po-es. her car being of an improved
pattern and 40 feet in length with
two $50 horsepower motors set on
platform aft. She had a speed of
60 miles an hour. and an endurance
capacity of 10 hours in the air at tha I
rate. Her total lifting capacity was
close to 10000 pounds and her useful
load 1000 pounds.
The ship had taken on her cargo of
four bombs this morning. and at the
time of the explosion was $50 feet
in the air.
Lieut.. Martin Worst Hurt.
Lieut.. Martin is the most seriously
injured of the five men. He has
fracture at the base of the brain but
still has lighting chance for life
He make his home at Aberdeen with
his wife, but comes from Watertown,
n. Y, although he Joined the service
while in California.
Lieut.. Puryear entered the service
from Tennessee. He is married and
lives at Langley Field.
Sergt. Fitch and family live at
Aberdeen, where he is stationed, al
though their home is in Philadelphia.
Sergts. Wells and Jensen are sta
toned at Aberdeen.