AERONAUTICS: Dragged to Death

To assist in the carnival events, the great Army dirigible, TC-2, had flown from the Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Md., to Mitchel Field. A crew of 200 men seized the ropes to haul the airship to earth. But the using of 500 gallons of gas on the trip, and the higher temperature encountered on the Long Island field, gave the ship abnormal buoyancy and she rose unexpectedly from the ground. The enlisted men, when dragged a few feet from the ground, let go—as they are carefully trained to do. In his excitement, Private Aage Rasmussen, of the 62nd Aero Squadron, failed to let go; he was dragged aloft by the rope he was holding. He managed to swing this round his legs, and hung on. But not until it had reached a height of 400 feet could the crew of the TC2 cause the ship to descend by desperate pumping out of gas. And after tense minutes of alternate hope and fear the spectators saw the soldier let go, his strength failing when only 50 feet from the ground. He crashed to an instantaneous death.