The Crash
The Macon scouted
for the Pacific
Fleet eight times
in all. But when
the airship left
Moffett Field
on Feb. 11, 1935,
to go on maneuvers
off the coast
of Southern California,
repairs had not
been completed
to two tail fins
that had been
damaged several
months earlier.
Because of the
need for the ship
and the pressure
to prove its value,
Navy officials
had decided to
do the repair
work piecemeal.
Largely because
of that decision,
this would be
the ship's 54th
and final flight.
The next day,
as the ship was
returning from
its successful
mission, it encountered
storm winds off
Point Sur, south
of Monterey. Suddenly,
a crosswind struck
the ship with
such force that
the upper fins
of the previously
damaged tail were
completely severed,
sending shards
of metal into
the rear gas cells.
In the control
car, the steering
wheel went slack
and the navigators
felt the tail
drop. Wiley ordered
the dumping of
ballast and fuel.
Crewmen hurried
about the ship
discharging everything
they could to
lighten the tail.
Off-duty personnel
were ordered to
the nose to help
bring that end
down. But the
ship was doomed.
After rising to
nearly 5,000 feet,
the Macon began
to fall.
Moments later
the ship settled
gently into the
water, and the
crew, clad in
life jackets and
equipped with
life rafts - features
that had not been
available to many
of those aboard
the Akron - jumped
into the water
safely. Ships
were quickly on
the scene to pull
the men out. A
radioman was killed
when he jumped
from the falling
ship, and another
man was lost when
he apparently
tried to retrieve
his belongings.
But in all, 81
of the 83 aboard
the Macon survived
the crash, including
"lucky"
Wiley.
A commission
set up to determine
the cause of the
ship's demise
concluded that
the blame belonged
not to the crew,
but to the Navy's
refusal to repair
the Macon's tail
damage before
it was sent on
its ill-fated
mission.
The disastrous
record of airships
put the pressure
on President Roosevelt
to abandon the
costly lighter-than-air
program. The president
responded by setting
up a second commission,
this one headed
by Stanford Professor
William F. Durand,
to look into the
future of airships.
The panel found
that dirigibles
had been used
for purposes for
which they were
not intended and
that they had
not been given
a fair opportunity
to prove their
value to the military.
The commission
concluded that
these lighter-than-air
craft should be
given another
chance. They were
not.
The Macon was
the nation's last
rigid airship.
+ Jump to the top of the page.
Moffett Field History Tour: + BACK + Moffett History Home + FORWARD
For a text only version, please contact: access@mail.arc.nasa.gov
|
