AIRSHIP DISASTER

Gisborne Times, Volume LVI, Issue 6320, 24 February 1922, Page 5

AIRSHIP DISASTER

ROMA EXPLORES WITH TERRIFIC ROAR. FIRST TRIAL WITH LIBERTY / ' MOTORS. THIRTEEN PROMINENT OFFICERS AMONGST VICTIMS. (United' Press Association— Copyright.) NEW YORK, February 21. The accident to tiie Roma occurred when the vertical controls carried away, and the airship, crashing downward, struck a network of highly charged electric wires, causing a deafening roar as the ship exploded. When she collapsed she fell nose first. Spectators saw two men jump from the airship about two hundred feet in life air. It is announced that the flight was tiie first trial since tire installation of Liberty motors in place of the Italian engines with which the ship was originally equipped. The Italian motors caused trouble. The Liberty motors replaced Them.

The Roma was commanded by Capl. Rale Mabry, who perished with the others.

The Roma had a capacity of 1,100,000 cubic feet, and tiie flames from the ignition prevented the escape of persons' beneath the wreckage. It also made it difficult to identify the bodies of those . rescued.

Survivor’s told how the craft refused to keep her nose in the air, and she kept Leading downward. When she struck a. cable charged with twentythree hundred volts of electricity, she collapsed and was burned. The death List includes men prominently identified with army aviation-, including two majors, four captains, and seven lieutenants of aviation. NEW YORK, February 22. Thirty-three bodies have been recovered from the Roma wreck. Identification is impossible. Three escaped with minor injuries, and eight with serious injuries. Lieutenant Burt, the pilot, jumped overboard and escaped with an injured wrist. He . believes that the rudder shifted sideways, causing a perpendicular nose dive. The engines functioned properly. There was no explosion till she struck the voltage wires. Eye-witnesses below confirm the statement about the shifting rudder. — A. and N.Z.C.A. (Received Feb. 23, 7.40 p.m.) WASHINGTON, Feb. 23.

A Norfolk telegram reports that all the bodies have been recovered from Roma. Thirty four were killed and eight injured. Three were unhurt.—A. and N.Z.C.A.

THE R3S DISASTER

CON FI RENTIAL REPORT BY EXPERTS.

RUE NEITHER TO WEATHER NOR FAULTY MATERIAL.

(Received. Feb. 23. 10.25 jam.) NEW YORK, Feb. 23

The Times’ Washington correspondent states that a report submitted to the British Air Ministry in London by the Aeronautical Research Committee declares the loss of dirigible R3S in August, 1921, was due to structural weakness in the design, also R3S was considerably weaker than R 33, a smaller airship. No calculation was made to the aero and dynamic forces whereto the airship would he subjected. The calculations made by the British design staff were therefore misleading. Neither weather nor faulty material caused the accident. The report has not been published in London, being held there as confidential. A copy of the report was obtained by the Times.—A. and N.Z.C.A.