Imperial Valley press., 1929-05-18
ECKENER
MUM ON
TROUBLE
Zeppelin Commander
Refuses To Discuss
Sabotage Rumor.
TO MAKE REPAIRS
Passengers Of Airship
Suffer Little As Result
OF Trip.

ToULON, May IS. W.D - The
crippled dirigible Graz zeppelin lay
moored in the Hangar Of the Cuers-
Pierrefitte airport here today like ii
chained monster, her strength com
pletely spent.
The passengers and the members
of the ships crew, for whom an at
tempted transatlantic cruise to the
United States was turned into a
narrowing nightmare. were recupe-
rating from their weird experience,
happy and thankful
Some of them never expected to
live through the ordeal. AS the
tempest tossed colossus of the air
rode through the skies at the mercy
Of the winds, many of the passengers
thought death was certain; that the
ship either would be dashed to the
ground or be carried out to sea.
Officials of the Zeppelin line were
speeding toward Toulon today to
make minute examination of the
motors whose failure threatened 10
cause the most terrible Zeppelin dis
aster since the war.
DR.. Ludwig Duerr, constructor of
the giant air ship. was on the way
here from friedrichshafen to study
the machinery. When the Graf Yep
relin finally was landed last night
three of the five engines were out
Of commission and one was nearly
so.
Even the one motor which was
functioning was used sparingly by
the commander, DIR. Hugo Eekener.
Its operation was such "A strain on
the metal work of the huge dirigible
that it was feared the ships back
might be broken.
AS soon as daylight came today,
the ships crew began to examine
the structure to determine whether
the dirigible had been weakened by
the severe buffetfng.
1t was found that none of the es
sential parts was strained and warp
ed, calling for temporary repairs
which can be made without releasing
the gas from the huge compartments.
Two small tears in one of the fins,
caused by the rough handling in
landing, were the only damage to the
body.
Proved Staunchness
After examination of his ship, DR..
, Eckener commented today:
"That should prove the airworth
mess of Zeppelins. We rode through
one of the worst storms / ever met
in the air. If we had all the motors
going we would have made Friedrich
shafen easily
DIR. Eckener made a brave fight to
stave off disaster. His ability to
get the Zeppelin to practically the
only airport in the south of France
able to handle it, was regarded as a
triumph of air navigation.
Officials of the French govern
ment did all within their power to
make the landing possible.
Hundreds of troops were rushed to
assist in landing the giant. 1t took
an hour and the aid of 500 persons
to get the stricken ship into its
hangar. DIR. Eckener, leaning from
his cabin, directed the movements of
those tugging at the ropes ON the
ground.
1t was sickE, but happy crowd
of passengers that disembarked.
Some had to be carried down, they
were so i'll. All had been i'll from air
sickness throughout the day, as the
Zeppelin, trying to return to its
home base was buffetcd by gales.
The ship, since entering the mis-
tial, was rougher than any steam
ship in storm. 1t rocked and
swervcd almost continually. Some
members of the crew were hardly
able to stand the ordeal.
After his early morning examina-
tion of the ship DR.. Eckener return
cd to his quarters in the rooming
house and declined to receive visi-
tors and interviewers. He insisted
that he would remain at Toulon dur
ing repairs on the Graf Zeppelin,
| but refused to discuss rumors of
sabotage as the possible cause of the
motor troubles.