, 1935-02-14
BEGINS
!. PROBE into
MACON'S FALL

SAN FRANCISCO. Feb. IA. Up
The cause OF the "Shudder" which
meant death 70 two men and the
sensational end OF the giant dirig-
ible Macon was sought Thursday by
IN naval court Of inquiry In the
first Of q series Of promised gov
ernmental investigations.
Even the surviving 81 officers and
men or the silver sky queen which
crashed and sank in the Pacific
ocean Tuesday night were not sure
what caused that CULVER TO run the
Quently rip away two OF her vital
Gas cells.
Has Some Ideas
Lieut.. Commander II. ". Wiley
survivor of the Akron disaster and
master OF the Macon. had some
ideas" about II but declined to dis
cuss them. He began questioning
the crew wher they returned 10
the Macon's vacant hangar at
Sunnyvale Wednesday and called
them to assemble at noon Thursday.
His findings will be placed before
the naval board OF inquiry. Whether
testimony before the board will be
made public Immediately was to be
determined after II assembled aboard
the USS. Tennessee in San Fran
cisco bay nc $50 q. m. u2:30 D. m.
Eastern Standard time).
Three proposals TO investigate the
crash were made In Washington as
President Roosevelt said there
would be no immediate move To
replace the greatest airship the
world has eve seen.
There were q few dissenting
voices, but official washington was
inclined TO view the Macon's loss
as indicating a halt in the navy's
development OF the dirigible, tenn
porarily III not permanently.
As to the original cause OF the
crash, survivors and observers were
agreed on only one ~thing-that the
squally weather played only q minor
part.
Structural Weakness?
There were hints OF some possible
structural weakness In the stern
Of the $2.450.000 ship. but naval
officers would make no definite
statement regarding such a pos
ability.
they talked freely only OF the
heroiSm Of the aircraft crew and
the remarkable efficiency OF the
navy In reScuing all but two OF the
% aboard.
Survivors told the dramatic story
OF the air queens end and their
rescue from Tire murky Pacific l25
miles south OF San Francisco OH
Point sur.
Cruising ut a speed OF So knots.
the ship had twice lowered her
elevation to duck rain squalls. Com
mander Wiley related, when a
abort jar vas felt"
Upon inquiry OF the elevator
man Cwho controls the rudder guild
ing the ships altitude) ! was in
formed the wheel had slipped out
of his hands" he went on. The
chin began to take a bow-up inclina-
ton and rose. Apparently the ele-
vator man did not have control.
Immediately I received a report
from the aft that number ! cell
zone OF the II helium gas cells
which kept the craft aloft in mid
air. was gone"
Then the Macon rose rapidly 70
1900 feet, her sticking at a
sharp angle above the stern, and
sank slowly toward the ocean as
the crew devalved the forward gas
chambers and threw ballast over
board from the stern In an attempt
20 right the lurching ship.
As she landed heavily on her
ntern, sailors and officers slid down
ropes that burned their hands and
legs or dived into the heavy swellS.
Twenty two men who had gone
forward as n futile ballast, slid
down a horribly long" LIS feet OF
rope from the nose to the water.
Each carried a flashlight, making
the descent column look like q pa
rade OF fireflies.
Men swan through the flame
where flares had ignited oil and
rnsoline. Others rescued compan-
ions whose lifebeltS were lost or
broken in long leaps into the sea.
Under the CLEAN OF searchlights,
three cruisers picked them up from
half an hour 70 m hour after they
had abandoned ship