Evening star., 1925-09-03
SHENANDOAH WRECKED N,CALE;
IA DIE AS WIND CRUSHES SHIP
Commander Lansdowne Among Victims-Survivor
Tells of Ride on Fragment of Air Giant After
COllapse-Broken in Three Pieces.
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had crashed near Ava. News of this
was flashed to newspaper Offices in Co
lumbus. and soon every wire leading
into the isolated community WAS busy
with calls from those seeking details
Of the disa ster
For some time il was impossible 10
learn where the other portion or por.
tions Of the craft had descended
Then word finally came from sharon.
10 OF more miles south Of Ava. that
another section had crashed there aft
er drifting aimlessly for miles in he
storm which broke the ship asunder-
Those who reached the scene first
were confronted with a mass of
wreckage and an unknown number
Of dead and injured. Frantic calls
brought rescue workers. but II was
hours before 1t was possible to gauge
accurately the seriousness of the ca
| taStrophe. so far as loss Of life was
concerned.
Lieut.. COmdr. ROsPndahI's Account.
Lieut. Comdr. f.. f. Rosendahl gave
the following account Of the Shena n
doah wreck and his thrilling escape to
the A ssoCiated Press correspondent.
Comdr. Rosendah hi said:
Il went on duty at $50 am. to re-
lieve Lieut.. Comdr Hancock, who was
nsvigatin the ship. We We're on
line headed west between Byesville and
Cambridge. Weather conditions were
bad. There was lightning and squalls.
Although We had AL engines going. We
could make no ground speed The
storm crept upon us from the north.
west. We tried to turn south Then
he line squall hit us. IT lifted us
from an altitude Of 2.500 to 4.5G0 feet
where we righted the ship for a feA
minutes. only to be taken up a gain for
an altitude OF 1000 feet.
The vertics aircurrent was 50
strong that il carried the ship hea ven
ward IN spite of an ls-degrees inclina-
ton OF the nose of the ship.
The survivors of the wreck will he
ordered back to Lakehurst this eve
ming Two officers and two enlisted
men will remain here To guard the
ship Lieut.. Comdr. Rosendahl navi
gator has wired the Bureau of Navi-
CATION at Washington for advice as
to the disposition of the 10 dead.
Heard Cabin Drop.
I'VE relea sed helum through the
hand valve. expecting this 10 check
the ascension. We had dropped over
board all water and | had started
from the control of the ship To the
| heel in an effort to throw overheard
fuel
AT this moment there WAS A crash.
! heard the struts hrea king and saw
the nose Of the ship parting from the
control compartment. a second later
| heard another ash. which must
have heen the control shin hitting the
ground. II WAS in this compartment
-
ers were killed.
The nose of the ship started across
country At about 25-miles- a n hour
speed. brushing trees and house or
harm We handled the nose as II II
were free balloon and landed safely
at Sharon, , miles from the place
where the control ship dropped.
Mccarthy was forward in the nose
and was injured when he was knocked
overboa rd.
Those with me in the nose of the
ship were Col. c. G. Han. L. 6. Army
observer; Lieut.. w. G. Mayer. Lieut.
j. p. Anderson. chief Machinist 3
Mate Shevlowitz and J. F. Mccarthy
Mate Shevlowitz and !. T. MEGA rthy.
svia tion chief rieger."
See Ship Torn Apart.
In the wierd half light Of the early
morning storm. with angry clouds
hanging in the heavens rent inter
mittenty by forks Of lightning. the
families Of 3. O. Davis and Frank
Nelson. farmers living near Ava.
wa atched the death struggle hetween
the elements and the giant diriSihle
They asaw the Shenandoah stand
motionless in the air for < minutes
They saw her dart upward under the
terrific air pressure: saw her buffeted
and tossed. first in one direction and
then another. finally to he torn to
pieces by the angry demons ot the
air.
White-fac and powerless. ewes
fixed toward the heavens. thev saw
the death struggle in its tragic eli
max-saw the Shena ndoah. after
darting upward perhaps 200 feet
settle slowly. Then. her nose point
ing perpendicularly toward the sky,
she was literally torn asunder.
The nose drifted away in the dark
ness while the remainder of the craft.
carrying all members of the crew
who were killed except Lieut.. f.
W. Sheppard. crashed earthwa I'd.
Even then the terrific winds. as
though loath to he cheated of their
victim, rea ched out greedy hands 70
tear into still smaller fra gments the
dismembered sections of the i'll fated
aircraft.
Lieut.. Comdr. Rosendahl the ships