1.
CU PAN Burning wreckage.
8 ft

2.
CU Wreckage.
4 ft

3.
LV PAN Burning wreckage.
6 ft



Initials S-D/JH/PB



Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: A US Navy blimp - airship - GRAF A100AX, crashed and burst into flames in a swamp, Washington North Carolina, 2. a.m. Feb 17. Within minutes the ship was enveloped in a roaring sheet of flame.

Farmers nearby raced from their homes and dragged members of the 7-man crew from the inferno. Saplings and fabric from the airship were used as stretchers and tractors as ambulance. Only three crew-men survived.

The ship was en route from Georgia to New Jersey with a sister ship which was five miles away. Radio contact was maintained until the moment of impact but no sign of trouble was observed.

Both ships were being ferried to New Jersey as new ships are being supplied to the Georgia base.

These air vehicles usually fly at about 500 feet. The area of the disaster is described as flat and the crash is unusual. No cause has so far been determined