Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1933-04-24
Loss Attributed to Unfair and
Unsympathetic Attitude
Toward Naval Aviation.
RESPONSIBILITY PLACED
ON "SEA-GOING ADMIRALS"
Charges Made in Editorial Written
in National Aeronautic
Magazine.

Loss Of the Akron and the lives Of
70 officers and men is due to an I'M
fair and unsympathetic attitude toward
naval aviation by the "sea-going ad-
mirals" and to the mistaken policy of
sending trained airship officers to sea
duty as q requirement for promotion,
former Senator Hiram Bingham of
Connecticut, wartime aviation COM
mander and president Of the National
Aeronautic Association, declared today
The greatest catastrophe in the his
tory Of aviation. Senator Bingham
charged, was due to errors in judg-
ment due to lack of experience and
also due to the blindness of sea-going
admirals toward the necessities and
limitations Of aircraft and air pilots"
Sympathy Held Lacking.
The Nays attitude toward aviation
lacks the sympathy and fairness of
treatment accorded other branches of
the service, Bingham said in censur-
ing the Navy for putting the giant
Akron in command Of "a gallant OFF,
Ger who had not had a single years
experience ir command Of any rigid
dirigble"
Bingham's charges are made in an
editorial written by him for the Ma
tional Aeronautic Magazine, off1cial
publication Of his association. which
will come from the presses tomorrow.
The loss Of the Akron" Bingham's
editorial will say. was not due to
structural defects any more than would
be the loss of q first-clasS submarine
which attempted to dive beneath Nj
agara Falls. Every type Of ship has its
limitations. Super-dreadnaughts can
not enter ordinary harbors without run
ming aground. DestroyerS are not ex-
pected to hive amid the raging waters
Of the Niagara rapids. No dirigible
ought to be expected to pass through
face ships avoid shoals, rocks and whirl-
pools. No airship pilot with long ex-
perience would have taken the Akron
into the center of a storm
THE Nays attitude toward aviation
has never been as sympathetic. as
understanding. as friendly, as fair. as
has been its attitude toward the opera
ton of vessels like cruisers and battle
ships which its senior officers fully
comprehend.
THE Navy would not think Of put
ting In command of one Of its battle
ships or cruisers a commanding officer
who had not had many years Of ex-
perience in actual command Of surface
vessels And yet the Navy placed in
command Of the largest rigid dirigible
In the world a gallant officer who had
not had q single years experience in
command of any rigid dirigible. It was
not fair to him. It was not fair to
the Akron.
Sea Requirement Shown.
ITO win promotion, an experienced
airship pilot must go to sea!
THE Navy would not dream OF per-
hitting an air pilot of 20 years flying
experience to direct the operations Of
a modern cruiser. And yet the Navy
!! Is willing to entrust the operations OF
aircraft to seagoing admiral who
never was In command of an airship
and who never flew alone in an air
plane"
Senator Bingham declared that Ad-
miral Moffett, chief Of the Navy Bureau
Of Aeronautics for IL years. who was
lost in the Akron crash, was SO
hampered by Navy policy that che
could issue no orders regarding their
(aircraft) operation or the personnel to
take command Of them" Admiral
Moffett might make recommendations 'if
he were asked to do So" with regard
to aircraft operations, Bingham de-
clared. but the Navy never entrusted
him with the responsibility of giving
orders regarding personnel or opera
tions." On the Akron, Senator Bing-
ham pointed out, Moffett was only a
passenger.
THE future of naval aviation" the
former Senator wrote, depends on the
Navy recognizing its mistakes and
making complete reformation Of its
practices regarding promotion and the
responsibility for handling aircraft"
Praises Morrow Board.
The Morrow Board, he pointed out,
showed the importance of having an
Assistant Secretary of the Navy for
Aeronautics, who should be pilot,
able to give sympathetic understanding
to the troubles of the aviators and the
limitations Of their craft"
The admirals," he, said, fought
the creation of this Office. They sue
ceeded in the House of Representatives
in having that Office stricken from the
bill creating the new program for naval
aviation. It was put back in the
Senate, retained in conference. and
approved by President Coolidge. As
soon as they could do so, however, they
got rid Of their Assistant Secretary Of
the Navy for Aeronautics and told the
Secretary Of the Navy that it was
not necessary to fill this office. The
loss Of the Shenandoah came before
such an ONCE was created. The loss
Of the Akron came after the Office had
been vacant for several months"