Evening star., 1924-01-13
Flying Disasters.
BY DONALD EDWARD KEYHoE.


|"HE fate Of the French dirgible
Dixmude recalls several other
aerial mysteries and disasters
which have occurred from time
to time since the first successful flight.
Years ago an Arctic explorer named
Andre, a man Of utmost courage and
great devotion to his work, made a
brave but ill-advised attempt to reach
the north pole by means Of q small
free" balloon. in which he set himself
adrift, trusting to the northerly air
currents to carry him over his goal
Nothing ever was heard Of him again
and his name has gone down In history
as one Of the martyrs to the explora-
ton Of the frozen north. Perhaps some
intrepid explorer OF that unknown land
frail ship and the final sentence can
be written to a tale still unfinished.
A more recent case is that Of the five
men who set out from Pensacola, Fla.
with the intention OF drifting north
ward in a standard Navy balloon, and
who were next heard from by a carrier
pigeon message stating that they were
over water, out Of sight Of land and
slowly sinking. seaplanes. station
boats, naval vessels and private craft
were hastily dispatched to scour the
Gulf Of Mexico, but since the unfortu-
nate airmen were unable to fix their
position only q general search could be
made.
In the meantime another carrier
pigeon returned to the air station with
a second message to the effect that the
balloon was only a hundred feet from
the surface Of the water, all ballast
gone, and that the end was near.
That was the last word received. A
continual search was maintained and
several days later the empty basket Of
the balloon was found, waterlogged but
still floating, a grim, silent witness Of
the tragedy which had overtAken its
occupants.
It is supposed that the men in tho
basket went to sleep. leaving one man
on watch, who also must have dozed
or for a while, during which time the
wind shifted, carrying the balloon out
over the gulf before the occupants were
aware Of their predicament.
Almost every one Is familiar with the
accident to the Inflated Roma, which
dived to earth at Hampton Roads. vir-
ginia, striking high-power transmission
lines which set the huge hydrogen filled
bag afire, resulting in terrible loss Of
life. The accident was ascribed to, de-
fective controls and served as costly
warning which was carefully remem-
bered in the building OF later dirigibles.
Not long after this came the fatal
built dirisible which was destined for
the United States. In the crash which
followed the buck1ing Of its framework
the greater part OF its crew was killed,
among the victims being many Of the
Americans who were to have brought
the huge air cruiser across the Atlantic
to America.
Numerous Zeppelins have been lost In
the same way or through fire, among
which was the one that fell in England
during the world war, with some Of the
charred bodies Of it's crew still in their
places in tho blackened framework.
Still another incident Of the Amer
lean naval air service, but which hap
PLY did not end in tragedy, was the
much-described flight Of the three bal.
loonists who left Far Rockaway. N. Y,
one day early in 1921 and were lost for
days. being given up as dead before
tidings Of their safety were carried to
a trading post from the desolate part
Of Canada In which they had landed.
Many Chicagoans still remember the
awful sight they beheId some years ago
when a small dirigible which was
cruising above the skyscrapers caught
fire and burned in midair. while the
doomed flyers jumped to their deaths
below. Thanks to the adoption Of
heliun1, such horrible disasters win be
nom existent in the future.
All the preceding incidents have
dealt with lighter-than-air craft, but
heavier-than-air service 10 not without
it, cases Of missing ships"
Several years ago a two-seater sea-
plane took of at Pensacola for an ordi-