Information on aircraft gives the type, and if available, the serial number of the operator in italics, the constructors number, also known as the manufacturer's serial number (c/n), exterior codes in apostrophes, nicknames (if any) in quotation marks, flight callsign in italics, and operating units.
21 JulyGen.
Irvin McDowell requests that a balloon be brought to the front at the Battle of First Manassas,
Centreville, Virginia. Mary Hoehling tells of the sudden appearance of
Pennsylvania aeronaut
John Wise who demanded that Prof.
Thaddeus S. C. Lowe stop his inflating of his balloon "Enterprise" and let him inflate his balloon instead. Wise had legal papers upholding his purported authority. Although Wise's arrival on the scene was tardy, he did inflate his balloon and proceeded toward the battlefield. On the way the balloon became caught in the brush and was permanently disabled. His balloon became lodged in trees, which eventually tore the fabric. This ended Wise's bid for the position, and Lowe was at last unencumbered from taking up the task as Chief Aeronaut of the U.S. Army. "Lowe helped avoid panic after the First Battle of Manassas by ascending to a height of 3 miles and reporting that no Confederate forces were advancing on
Washington."
4 JulyA large German military balloon burst at the German Army's Balloon Department grounds. Five balloonists were injured.
28 MayLieuts. Theodore Martin-Leake and William Caulfield of the
British Army drown when their balloon crashes in
Lyme Bay.
2 JuneCaptain Arnaldo Ulivelli's balloon was hit by lightning while flying above a military parade in
Rome. He suffered from broken bones and burns before dying four hours later in a military hospital.
22 JuneA military balloon falls and explodes in
Debrecen,
Austria-Hungary. Its crew of two French army officers and one Austrian army officer, and ten peasant men on the ground are killed. With thirteen fatalities it was the worst air accident until the 1913 Helgoland Island Air Disaster.
30 NovemberThe
French Army's airship,
Patrie, is blown away during a storm. It is last sighted near the
Hebrides.
20 MayBrazilian Lt. Juventino Fonseca died from injuries sustained when his balloon prematurely took off during military inspection due to a gust of wind. As his balloon was still tethered, it crashed into the ground over Manaos.
17 SeptemberArmy Signal Corps
Wright Model A, Army Signal Corps serial number
1, piloted by Orville Wright, crashes at
Fort Myer,
Virginia, killing Lt. Thomas E. Selfridge. During the flight, that had begun just after 0700 hrs., a propeller breaks and severs control wires. The trials continued the following year with a new smaller version of the Wright A which became the first military aircraft when purchased by the US Army. This aircraft served for two years and was retired on 4 May 1911. It is now on display at the
Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum,
Washington, D.C., after having been accepted for exhibition on 20 October 1911. Selfridge AFB,
Michigan, was later named for the first U.S. military aircrash victim. Wright was hospitalized until 31 October 1908 and spent several more weeks on crutches.
16 OctoberPilot
Samuel Franklin Cody takes off from
Farnborough Common, Great Britain, in his
British Army Aeroplane No 1, a
biplane powered by a 50 hp (37 kW)
Antoinette 8V engine. His flight covers 424 metres before ending in a crash-landing, which he survives.
22 September Capt. Louis F. Ferber, (1862–1909), of the French Army, is killed when he drags a wing during a low-altitude turn in a
Voisin biplane at a flying meet at Boulogne,
France, overturning the machine. "Capt. Ferber was pinned to the ground."
25 SeptemberFrench Army airship
La République crashes over
Avrilly, Allier, killing its crew of four. It was caused by a broken propeller which sheared through the envelope causing rapid leakage. This crash marks the first military airship fatalities.
31 OctoberLieut. Pietro Rovetti is killed when struck by an airship propeller during takeoff in
Rome.
5 NovemberThe
United States Army Wright Military Flyer, serial
1, piloted by Lieutenant
Frank P. Lahm with 2nd Lieutenant Frederick E. Humphreys as passenger crashes into the ground at
College Park Airport,
Maryland, while executing a sharp right turn. The aircraft had lost altitude due to engine misfiring and the aircrew had not taken account of their proximity to the ground when banking the aircraft to the right. Both officers were unhurt but the aircraft required repairs. The skids and the right wing had to be replaced.
20 August Lt. Marquis Vivaldi (also quoted as Lt. Pasqua Vivaldi), of the Italian Army, is killed at
Magliano, near Rome, in a
Farman biplane. "In descending he lost control." The 28 January 1911 issue of
Flight states that the "Motor stopped and machine was smashed; he was killed instantly."
3 DecemberThe first multiple fatality airplane accident in history happened at Centocelle, near Rome, when Lt. Enrico Cammarota and Private S. Castellani became the 26th and 27th people to die in a aircraft crash. Their
Farman biplane broke during a turn and they died in a military hospital.
30 December French aviator Lt. Jacques de Caumont, 28, is killed in the 50 hp
prototype Nieuport III monoplane, at St. Cyr, this date, when he suffers loss of control.
10 MayFirst U.S. Army pilot casualty, 2nd Lt.
George Edward Maurice Kelly (1878–1911),
London-born, and a naturalized United States citizen in 1902, is killed when he banks his
Curtiss Type IV (or
Curtiss Model D), Army Signal Corps serial number
2, sharply to avoid plowing into an infantry encampment near the present site of
Fort Sam Houston,
Texas. The Aviation Camp (aka Remount Station) at
Fort Sam Houston is renamed Camp Kelly, 11 June 1917, then Kelly Field on 30 July 1917, and finally Kelly AFB on 29 January 1948. Airframe rebuilt, finally grounded in February 1914, refurbished, and placed on display in the Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum, Washington, D.C. Due to this crash, the commanding officer of Fort Sam Houston bans further training flights at the base, the flying facilities being moved to
College Park Airport,
College Park, Maryland in June–July 1911. A replica of this airframe is preserved at the
National Museum of the United States Air Force.
18 AugustThe
Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.1 crashes at
Farnborough, pilot Lt. Theodore J. Ridge killed. Despite being Assistant Superintendent at the Factory, Ridge was an inexperienced pilot who had only been awarded his pilot's certificate the day before, and was described as "an absolutely indifferent flyer". The combination of an unskilled pilot and a marginally controllable aircraft proved fatal: the S.E.1 stalled in a turn and spun in, killing Ridge.
17 SeptemberLieutenant Reginald Archibald Cammell of the British Air Battalion was killed conducting a trial flight of an
ASL Valkyrie Type B with his own engine fitted. The accident was not considered to be due to faults in the aircraft, but to have been caused by Cammell's lack of experience with the aircraft.
18 NovemberFirst British seaplane to leave the water, and the first seaplane to take off from British waters, an
Avro Type D, the first of six of the type, piloted by
Royal Navy Commander
Oliver Schwann, lifts off from
Cavendish Dock,
Barrow-in-Furness, England, briefly, falls back into the water and is damaged. His lack of training betrayed him, and the first take-off was not followed by the first successful landing. The Avro will be repaired.
11 JuneLieutenant Leighton W. Hazelhurst, Jr. (July 1887 – 11 June 1912) and
Arthur L. Welsh (14 August 1881 – 11 June 1912) are killed in crash of
Wright Model C, U.S. Army Signal Corps serial number
4, in
College Park, Maryland. Hazelhurst was the third U.S. army officer to die in an aeroplane crash. Airframe had recently been purchased by the Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corps. The United States Army Signal Corps had established a series of tests for the aircraft, and Welsh and Hazelhurst were taking the Model C on a climbing test, one of the last in the series required by the Army. Shortly after takeoff, the aircraft pitched over while making a turn and fell 30 feet (9.1 m) to the ground, killing both crew members. They had both been ejected from their seats, with Welsh suffering a crushed skull and Hazelhurst a broken neck.
The New York Times described Welsh as "one of the most daring professional aviators in America" and his flying partner Hazelhurst as being among the "most promising of the younger aviators of the army". A board of officers was formed by the
United States Secretary of War Henry Lewis Stimson, which concluded that Welsh was at fault in the crash, having risen to 150 feet, with the plan to dive at a 45-degree angle in order to gain momentum for a climb, but had made the dive too soon, with the board's results reported in the June 29, 1912 issue of
Scientific American. In a 2003 interview, a cousin of Welsh's reported the family's belief that the tests were run too rapidly and that Welsh was doomed to fail by carrying too much fuel and a passenger, giving a craft that would be unable to make the planned maneuver with the weight it was carrying.
19 JuneCapt. Marcel Dubois and Lt. Albert Peignan of the French Army were killed near
Douai when their planes collided in mid-air, the first fatal mid-air collision in history.
26 June2nd Lt.
Henry H. Arnold, holder of
Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) pilot certificate No. 29 and Military Aviator Certificate No. 2, after accepting the Army's first tractor airplane,
Burgess Model H, Signal Corps
9, crashes into
Plymouth Bay,
Massachusetts after takeoff, receiving the scar on his chin that he shows distinctively for the rest of his life.
5 JulyRoyal Flying Corps (RFC) Captain
Eustace Loraine and his observer Staff Sergeant R H V Wilson were flying a
Nieuport monoplane out of
Larkhill,
Wiltshire, England on a routine training flight. They were executing a tight turn when the aircraft fell towards the ground and crashed. Wilson was killed outright and although Loraine was speedily transported to Bulford Hospital in a horse-drawn ambulance, he died of his injuries only a few minutes after arriving at the hospital. Loraine and Wilson were the first Flying Corps personnel to die in an aircraft crash while on duty. Later in the day an order was issued which stated "Flying will continue this evening as usual", thus beginning a British military aviation tradition.
31 JulyAn attempt by the U.S. Navy to catapult launch the Navy's first seaplane, a Curtiss A-3 (AH-3)
pusher, at the
Washington Navy Yard, Washington, D.C., fails when a crosswind catches the aircraft halfway along the catapult and tosses it into the
Anacostia River. Pilot uninjured. A different source lists the location of the launch attempt as
Annapolis, Maryland, the aircraft as the Curtiss A-1 (AH-1), and the pilot as Lt.
Theodore G. Ellyson, noting that the catapult was powered by compressed air, was fabricated by the Naval Gun Factory at the Washington Navy Yard from a design by Capt. Washington I. Chambers, and that the aircraft, not being secured to the catapult, reared up at mid-stroke where it was caught by the crosswind. This account, from an official U.S. Navy history, may be the more credible of the two versions. An accompanying photo (No. 650864) dated July 1912 showing the
A-1 on the catapult at
Annapolis supports the latter description. The first successful launch was accomplished on 12 November 1912 at the Washington Navy Yard by Ellyson in the
A-3, according to this source, possibly accounting for the confusion.
13 AugustDuring air-ground maneuvers held by the U.S. Army, at
Stratford, Connecticut, Pvt. Beckwith Havens of the 1st Company, Signal Corps, New York National Guard, suffers engine failure in a Curtiss biplane at about 1000 ft (300 m) over a crowded parade ground, narrowly misses spectators and a cavalry troop as he swoops down, glides down the field and collides with a
Burgess-Wright biplane that had just been flown by Lt.
Benjamin Foulois, breaking off its tail. No injuries reported, and both aircraft are taken to hangars for repair. Havens, a pilot employed by pioneer aircraft builder Glenn H. Curtiss, had enlisted in the New York National Guard as a private in June 1912. At the National Guard manoeuvers with the Army, he flew an aircraft that his employer had loaned him.
6 SeptemberCapt. Patrick Hamilton and Lt. Wyness-Stuart of the
Royal Flying Corps are killed when their Deperdussin monoplane breaks up in flight, crashing at
Graveley, near
Welwyn. The 60 hp (45 kW)
Anzani-powered aircraft had been taken on strength by the army in January 1912.
10 SeptemberLts. E. Hotchkiss and C. A. Bettington are killed when their Bristol-Coanda monoplane suffers a structural failure and crashes. This second accident involving a Royal Flying Corps monoplane in five days causes Col. Seely, Secretary of State for War, to issue a ban on monoplanes on 14 September. The ban will be reversed five months later when technical studies show that monoplanes are no more dangerous than biplanes.
28 SeptemberWright Model B, U.S. Army Signal Corps serial number
4, crashes at College Park Airport, Maryland, killing two crew, Lieutenant L. C. Rockwell and Corporal
Frank S. Scott. On 20 July 1917, the Signal Corps Aviation School is named
Rockwell Field in honor of 2nd Lt. Lewis C. Rockwell, killed in this crash, and
Scott Field, Illinois is named for the first enlisted personnel killed in an aviation crash. Scott Air Force Base remains the only U.S. Air Force base named for an enlisted man.
FebruaryVickers E.F.B. 1 Destroyer (Experimental Fighting Biplane), the first of the Gunbus series of designs, contracted for in early 1913 by the Admiralty shortly after creation of the Naval Wing of the Royal Flying Corps in 1912, a pusher design, completed and displayed at the 1913 Olympia Aero Show, crashes soon afterwards, possibly on its first flight. No production ordered.
8 FebruaryRussian pilot N. de Sackoff becomes the first pilot shot down in combat when his biplane, possibly a
Maurice Farman MF.7, is hit by ground fire following bomb run on the walls of Fort
Bizani during the
First Balkan War. Flying for the Greeks, he comes down near small town of
Preveza, on the coast N of the Aegean island of Levkas, secures local Greek assistance, repairs aircraft and resumes flight back to base.
MarchRoyal Aircraft Factory B.S.1 (c.f. Blériot Scout, indicating a tractor aeroplane), the first aircraft in the world designed and built from the start as a single-engine, single-seat fighting scout, first flown in March 1913 by
Geoffrey de Havilland, crashes later that same month from a flat spin, pilot suffering a broken jaw. Repaired and modified, but no production ordered. Rebuilt as the B.S.2, then redesignated S.E.2 (Scout Experimental), and with enlarged vertical tail surfaces as the S.E.2A, and given serial
609, but still no production ordered.
8 AprilLieutenants Rex Chandler and
Lewis H. Brereton on training flight from
North Island, San Diego, California, in
Curtiss Model F flying boat, Signal Corps
15, with Brereton as pilot, crashes and Chandler is knocked unconscious and drowns.
27 MayLieutenant
Desmond Arthur died when his
Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2 biplane,
205, collapsed without warning while flying over
Montrose. This was
Scotland's first fatal aircraft accident.
20 JuneFirst fatality in U.S. Naval aviation occurs when flight instructor Ens. W.D. Billingsley is thrown from pilot seat of the second Wright CH seaplane,
B-2, at height of 1,600 feet in turbulent air over Annapolis, Maryland. Passenger Lt.
John Henry Towers stays with airplane, sustaining injuries when it hits water. Design was modified conversion of
Wright Model B with two pusher propellers driven through chains connected to a 60 hp (45 kW) Wright engine.
23 JuneThe
S-21 Sikorsky Russky Vityaz ("Russian Knight"), designed by
Igor Sikorsky and built by the RBVZ, a redesigned variant of the Bolshoi Baltiski, as the first large aircraft intended exclusively as a bomber, first flies on this date, the world's first four-motored aircraft. It is lost in a freak accident during 1913 military trials when the Gnôme rotary on a Moller II pusher biplane (some sources cite a
Morane design) tears loose and hits the giant bomber.
17 JulyMajor Alexander William Hewetson of the 66th Battery Royal Field Artillery was killed flying near
Stonehenge in
Wiltshire. A stone memorial was erected near the spot. This can be seen by the road between the
Stonehenge visitors' centre and the monument by the Fargo Wood.
4 SeptemberU.S. Army
11th Cavalry 1st Lt. Moss Lee Love becomes the 10th fatality in U.S. army aviation history when his
Wright Model C biplane crashes near San Diego, California during practice for his Military Aviator Test. On 19 October 1917, the newly-opened
Dallas Love Field in Dallas, Texas is named in his honor. Joe Baugher lists the fatal aircraft accident for this date as being Burgess Model J, Signal Corps
18, which dove into the ground killing its pilot.
9 SeptemberImperial German Navy Zeppelin,
L 1, LZ14, pushed down into the
North Sea in a thunderstorm, drowning 14 crew members. This was the first
Zeppelin incident in which fatalities occurred.
13 OctoberImperial German Air Force-Lt. Koening {Aviator # 166} killed in crash near Neuendorf Aerodrome near
Berlin. Lts Soren and Rohstadt are injured while taking a flight between
Berlin and
Stuttgart 17 OctoberImperial German Navy Zeppelin
L 2, LZ18, destroyed by an exploding engine during a test flight – the entire crew of 28 was killed.
24 NovemberLieuts. Eric Lamar Ellington and Hugh M. Kelly of the 1st Aero Squadron, United States Army Aviation Corps, are killed this date in a fall of about eighty feet in a Wright Model C, Signal Corps
14. The accident occurred at ~0758 hrs. across the
bay from San Diego, California on the grounds of the army school on
North Island. On impact, the engine broke free, crushing the two aviators. These were the eleventh and twelfth Army aviation casualties. Ellington Field, Texas, which opens on 1 November 1917, is named for Lt. Ellington.
7 DecemberA Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2a,
235, flown by factory test pilot Lt.
Norman Spratt crashed at the Farnborough Aerodrome, pilot surviving.
9 FebruaryU.S. Army Lt.
Henry Post exceeds his previous altitude records by reaching 12,140 feet. During descent, the Wright Model C, Signal Corps
10, aircraft sustained damage (wing collapsed) and crashed into
San Diego Bay, killing Lt. Post. On 24 February, due to a large number of accidents and deaths, an Army board at the Signal Corps, Aviation School, San Diego, condemned all pusher airplanes. This recommendation basically condemned all Wright aircraft, which were all pushers.
16 February Lieutenant (jg) James M. Murray, Naval Aviator No. 10, on a flight at Pensacola,
Florida, in the Burgess D-1 flying boat, crashes to the water from 200 feet and is drowned.
9 MarchLieutenant Alejandro Bello Silva was a
Chilean aviator who disappeared during his qualifying flight for certification as a military pilot. In the pre-dawn hours, this date, Lieutenant Silva was in the
Lo Espejo aerodrome, where he was to take an examination to earn the designation Military Pilot. Bello and two companions had to complete the circuit from
Lo Espejo to Culitrín, to
Cartagena, and back to Lo Espejo, in the central region of
Chile, in order to pass the exam. On the first attempt, the aviators had to return to base due to near-zero visibility caused by heavy
fog. Bello damaged his aircraft during the landing, and switched to an 80 horsepower (60 kW) Sánchez-Besa biplane (tail number
13, nicknamed "Manuel Rodríguez") for the second attempt. He took off together with one companion and the instructor, who had to make an emergency landing for refueling. Nevertheless, Bello continued his route and was lost among the clouds. He was never seen again and many searches over time have failed to find any trace of him or his aircraft.
12 May or 25 MayFirst fatal mid-air between two machines of the Royal Flying Corps kills Capt. Ernest Vincent Anderson and his passenger Air Mechanic Henry Wifred Carter when their Sopwith Tractor Biplane,
324, was accidentally rammed by Lt. C. W. Wilson in another Sopwith,
325, of the same type. Wilson was returning from
Brooklands and descending to land at Farnborough when he struck the other plane, which was climbing away from the aerodrome on a familiarization flight. Wilson escapes with bruises and a broken jaw. Both planes crash on the nearby Aldershot Golf Course 10th Green. Both machines and all three airmen were from
No. 5 Squadron, RFC.
4 JuneFirst fatal British seaplane accident kills Lt. T. S. Cresswell and Cmdr. A. Rice of the
Royal Navy. While ascending from the
Calshot Air Station, the Short S.128 they are flying passes over motorboat on
Southampton Water where Short's test pilot Gordon Bell and Lt. Spencer Grey are watching flight. At height of just over 200 feet, seaplane appears to break up and plummets into sea, killing both occupants. Some witnesses say that they believed that the seaplane stalled and that the wings folded up as structural limits were exceeded.
20 JuneWhile the Austro-Hungarian airship
Militärluftschiff III (or
M.III) hovers over
Fischamend testing new camera equipment, an
Austro-Hungarian Army pilot tries to loop
M.III in a
Farman biplane. The airplane strikes the top of the airship, tearing a hole and igniting the escaping
hydrogen gas. Both aircraft are destroyed, and both men in the airplane and all seven men aboard
M.III are killed. It is the end of the Austro-Hungarian airship program.
26 JuneThe prototype Bristol S.S.A. (for Single-Seat Armoured), c.n. 219, a
Henri Coanda single-seat tractor biplane design intended for production France, crashes on landing at
Filton when an undercarriage bracing wire fails. Pilot Harry Busteed slightly injured, but airframe is severely damaged. The French authorities however agree to accept delivery of the type at the
Breguet factory, where it is rebuilt, and Bristol takes no further part in its development.
26 JulySeventh aircraft erected at
Tokorozawa Airfield, Japan, the Kaishiki Converted Type Mo (Maurice Farman Type),
7, crashed at this airfield while piloted by Capt. Tokugawa. When rebuilt, with completion on 19 January 1915, this 7th Type Mo 1913 became known as the Sawada Type No. 7, or more officially because of radical modifications, as the Kaishiki the 3rd Year Model.
12 AugustSole
Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.4,
628, crashlands at 1145 hrs. while being flown by Lt.
Norman Spratt when one of the wheels collapsed, airframe overturning, sustaining such extensive damage that it is abandoned.
8 SeptemberImperial Russian Army pilot
Pyotr Nesterov attempted an aerial ramming against an Austro-Hungarian reconnaissance Albatros B.II with his
Morane-Saulnier. He most likely tried to hit it with his
landing gear but accidentally used his propeller instead. As a result, both planes crashed killing Nesterov and the two in the opposing aircraft over
Zhovkva,
Ukraine.
5 OctoberFirst aerial combat kill in history recorded when a Voisin pusher of Escadrille VB24, French Air Service, flown by Sgt. Joseph Frantz and Cpl. Quénault, downed a German two-seater Aviatik B.II, flown by
Feldwebel Willhelm Schlichting with
Oberleutnant Fritz von Zangen as observer, over
Jonchery,
Reims, using what is believed to have been a
Hotchkiss machine gun.
6 MarchFirst fatal accident involving Japanese Naval aviators occurs when Yokosho Navy Type Mo Large Seaplane (Maurice Farman 1914 Seaplane), serial number
15, crashed at sea with Sub-Lieuts. Tozaburo Adachi and Takao Takerube, and W/O 3/c Hisanojo Yanase on board, all KWF.
1 MayAir Mechanic William Thomas
James McCudden of the Royal Flying Corps the elder brother of James McCudden VC died when his Bleriot had engine trouble and crashed on 1 May 1915 at Fort Grange, Gosport.
8 MayLieutenant (jg) Melvin L. Stolz, student aviator, is killed in a crash of the AH-9 hydroaeroplane at
Pensacola, Florida.
3 AugustThe German Main Headquarters
communique released in
Amsterdam this date, and reported by
Reuters, states that "A French captive balloon, which was torn from its anchorage during a thunderstorm, was caught by us north-west of Etain."
12 SeptemberA
Royal Naval Air Service Short S.38,
65, and a
Caudron G.III,
3282, collide at Eastchurch, both pilots killed.
17 NovemberImperial German Navy Zeppelin LZ52,
L 18, destroyed in shed fire at Tondern during refilling.
22 MarchSoldato Pilot Amico of 71 Squadriglia,
Regio Esercito, was killed when he stalled his Nieuport X,
1452, and crashed near Cascina Farello, Italy.
7 JuneSergente Gefli of 71 Squadriglia,
Regio Esercito, was killed when his Nieuport collided with another Nieuport during simulated combat and crashed near
Villaverla, Italy.
9 JuneLt.j.g.
Richard Caswell Saufley of the U.S. Navy, designated Naval Aviator No. 14, is killed in the crash of a
Curtiss Model E hydro-plane (seaplane),
AH-8, over Santa Rosa Island near
Pensacola, Florida at the 8 hr., 51 min. mark of an attempted long-duration flight.
Saufley Field, north of NAS Pensacola, is subsequently named for him.
18 JuneGerman ace
Max Immelmann (17 victories) is killed at ~2215 hrs. when his
Fokker E.III monoplane,
246-16, crashes after breaking up in the air when the interrupter gear malfunctions and he shoots away his own propeller. He had been engaging an F.E.2b piloted by 2nd Lt. G. R. Gubbin with Cpl. J. H. Waller as gunner. Gubbin and Waller were credited with the victory, but another theory posits that Immelmann may have taken hits from friendly AAA, as the propeller failure would not necessarily have caused the complete airframe disintegration that occurred.
Afternoon of 27 JuneFokker's chief designer and test pilot Martin Kreutzer takes a
Fokker D.I for a test flight, but when he kicks the rudder hard over, it jams and he is severely injured in the subsequent crash, dying in hospital the next day.
3 SeptemberImperial German Army Zeppelin
LZ86, LZ56, crashed when the fore and aft nacelles broke away from the ship's hull after a raid.
Night of 6 SeptemberThe Roland (Luftfahrzeug Gesellschaft mbH, or LFG) Adlershof, Berlin, Germany, aircraft plant burns, destroying seven complete aircraft, including the prototype LFG Roland C.III (and only one built), as well as ten
fuselages. Assembly jigs and fixtures, models and some drawings are salvaged and production resumes a week later in commandeered Automobile Exhibition Hall.
16 SeptemberTwo Imperial German Navy Zeppelins destroyed when
L 6, LZ31, took fire during refilling of gas in its hangar at
Fuhlsbüttel and burnt down together with
L 9, LZ36.
21 SeptemberOne only prototype
Avro 521 fighter,
1811, (a serial that duplicated one assigned to a Bleriot monoplane), assigned to Central Flying School
Upavon, crashes killing pilot Lt. W. H. S. Garnett.
26 SeptemberFlying ace
Leutnant Max Ritter von Mulzer (ten aerial victories credited), the first Bavarian fighter ace, first Bavarian ace recipient of the Pour le Merite, and first Bavarian knighted for his exploits, on this date sideslips Albatros D.I
426/16 into a hard bank, loses control, and crashes at Armee Flug Park 6,
Valenciennes, with fatal result.
28 OctoberUndercarriage of German fighter pilot
Erwin Böhme, diving on a British fighter, strikes upper wing of ace
Oswald Boelcke's Albatros D.II, also pursuing the same target. Fabric peels loose, aircraft disappears into cloud – when it emerges, the top wing is gone. Boelcke makes relatively "soft" landing, but as he habitually flew without a helmet, and in haste to take off had not properly secured his seatbelt, he was killed on impact. He was 25, and was credited with 40 victories. Jasta 2 is officially named "Jasta Boelcke" on 17 December 1916 in honour of its former commander.
7 NovemberImperial German Army Zeppelin
LZ90, LZ60, broke loose in the direction of the
North Sea in a storm and never seen again.
8 NovemberLieutenant Clarence K. Bronson, Naval Aviator No. 15, and Lieutenant Luther Welsh, on an experimental bomb test flight at Naval Proving Ground,
Indian Head, Maryland, were instantly killed by the premature explosion of a bomb in their plane.
13 NovemberSole prototype of the Zeppelin-Lindau (Dornier) V1, a single-seat, all-metal fighter with pod-type fuselage and pusher 160 hp (120 kW) Maybach Mb III engine, designed by Dipl-Ing Claudius Dornier, and built by the Abteilung 'Dornier' of the
Luftschiffbau Zeppelin GmbH at Seemoos, near
Friedrichshafen, attempts initial flight. After a series of ground hops in September by Bruno E. Schröter, this pilot refused to fly the prototype due to pronounced tail-heaviness. Oblt. Haller von Hallerstein, instead undertakes initial flight this date, but the V1 performs a loop immediately after take-off, crashing, killing pilot. No further development undertaken of the type.
12 DecemberSole prototype of Kishi No.2
Tsurugi-go ("Sword" type) Aeroplane, 'II', single-engine pusher biplane, makes first and last flight when Lt. Inoue lifts off, immediately banks sharply to port, wingtip contacts ground, airframe cartwheels sustaining considerable damage. Cause of accident assumed to be due to the sweptback wing design.
28 DecemberImperial German Navy Zeppelin LZ69
L 24, crashed into a wall while being "stabled", broke its back, and burned out together with
L 17, LZ53.
29 DecemberImperial German Navy Zeppelin LZ84
L 38, damaged beyond repair in a forced landing (due to heavy snowfall) during an attempted raid on Reval and
Saint Petersburg.
1 JanuaryFive
Royal Naval Air Service crew en route from Manston, England to Villacoublay, France in a Handley Page 0/100 bomber, run into clouds, lose their direction due to a compass fault, and land to ask directions. Unfortunately, they come down behind German lines at
Chalandry, near Lâon, France, and before they can either burn the machine or take off, a German infantry patrol captures them and their intact bomber. An unconfirmed story states that
Manfred von Richthofen flew this machine to 10,000 feet before the Kaiser at a later date. Another source cites 2 February as the date of this incident.
21 JanuarySergente Menegoni of 71 Squadriglia,
Regio Esercito, was killed when his
Nieuport 11,
1622, suffered a structural failure of the wing struts and crashed.
28 JanuaryRoyal Aircraft Factory test pilot Maj. Frank W. Goodden is killed in the second prototype
S.E.5,
A4562 at RAE Farnborough, when it breaks up in flight. At the time of his death, Goodden was one of Britain's most experienced pilots. Inspection found that the wings had suffered failure in downward torsion. Plywood webs were added to the compression ribs, curing the trouble and were standardized on all later S.E.5s and 5a's.
7 FebruaryImperial German Navy Zeppelin LZ82
L 36, damaged during landing in fog at
Rheden upon Aller and decommissioned.
12 March Flight Sub-Lieutenant Ronald Victor Knight, Royal Naval Air Service, died at
RAF Cranwell on 12th March 1917 where he was an assistant flying instructor. The engine of the plane in which he was flying failed and he dived to his death. He is buried in Wells Cemetery,
Somerset and his name is shown on the war memorial in Wells.
26 MarchEx-Royal Flying Corps pilot J. B. Fitzsimmons is killed while engaging in some low level aerobatics in a high wind in the sole Nestler Scout (no serial) when the fabric began stripping from the wings. Fitzsimmons crashes into a hangar and the airframe is wrecked. No further development work takes place on the design.
JuneDuring this month, six Russian Anatra D biplanes crash due to poor quality manufacturing, killing their pilots. The Russian aircraft builder was hampered by a shortage of high-quality wood and fabricated each wing spar in two pieces, overlapping at the joint by only 12 inches, held together with glue and tape.
16 JuneImperial German Navy Zeppelin
L 40, LZ88, damaged beyond repair in a failed landing at
Nordholz Airbase.
JulyEven though Vickers already had experience in building promising tractor scouts, and the pusher-style Gunbus had been outmoded for two years in the presence of dedicated dogfighters, the company built one prototype
Vickers F.B.25, powered by a 150-hp. direct-drive
Hispano-Suiza engine in 1917, armed with one 1.59 inch Breech-Loading Vickers Q.F. Gun, Mk II (popularly known as the "Vickers Crayford rocket gun") in the nose as an anti-airship night fighter. A ten-inch searchlight was intended to be fitted in the extreme nose but there is no evidence that this was ever installed. Design underwent trials at
Martlesham Heath in late June or early July, but crashed whilst landing in a strong wind, a trials report stating that due to poor controls, the aircraft proved to be "almost unmanageable in a wind over 20 mph". The serial of this aircraft is not known, although a document, traced recently, refers to it as No. "13", and it has been suggested that this may indicate
A9813 – formerly a cancelled number intended for a
Sopwith Triplane.
21 JulyFrench test pilot/instructor Jean Robinet, awarded Aviator's Certificate No. 476 by the
Aéro-Club de France on 29 April 1911, is KWF an Anatra D at the Anatra Factory, Odessa, Russia, this date.
7 AugustSquadron Commander
Edwin H. Dunning, RNAS, (17 July 1892 – 7 August 1917) during landing attempt aboard HMS
Furious, Pennant number 47, in
Sopwith Pup,
N6452, decides to go around before touchdown, but Le Rhône
rotary engine chokes, Pup stalls and falls into the water off the starboard bow. Pilot stunned, drowns in the 20 minutes before rescuers reach still-floating airframe. Dunning had made two previous successful landings on
Furious, the first-ever aboard a moving vessel.
25 AugustSole Vickers F.B.26 Vampire,
B1484, piloted by Vickers test pilot
Harold Barnwell, crashes at Joyce Green, when he attempts a spin without sufficient altitude for recovery. Pilot KWF.
17 SeptemberA kite balloon from the USS
Huntington was hit by a squall and while being hauled down struck the water so hard that the observer, Lieutenant (jg) Henry W. Hoyt, was knocked out of the basket and caught underwater in the balloon rigging. As the balloon was pulled toward the ship,
Patrick McGunigal, Ships Fitter First Class, (30 May 1876 – 19 January 1936) jumped overboard, cleared the tangle and put a line around Lieutenant Hoyt so that he could be hauled up on deck. For this act of heroism, McGunigal was later awarded the
Medal of Honor, the first of the Great War. The
Huntington was convoying six troopships across the Atlantic to France and the balloon observation was being made as it transited the war zone.
19 OctoberImperial German Navy Zeppelin LZ50
L 16, damaged beyond repair in a forced landing near
Brunsbüttel.
29 OctoberLt.
Heinrich Gontermann, known as the Balloon Strafer, receives fatal injuries when the
Fokker Dr.I 115/17, of
Jasta 15, he is performing aerobatics over his airfield at 1,500 feet in, suffers structural failure as the top wing breaks up, crashes, suffers grievous facial injuries, dies the following day. The Triplane had been delivered to
Jasta 15 on 22 October but foul weather kept it grounded until the 28th. Gontermann had scored 21 airplane kills and 18 balloons.
31 OctoberFokker Dr.I 121/17, flown by Lt. Pastor from
Jasta 11, one of the JG.1 units under
Manfred von Richthofen, suffers structural failure and crashes. Second such crash in three days causes all Fokker Triplanes to be grounded immediately with affected flight crew reverting temporarily to Albatros D.Va and
Pfalz D.III scouts. Accidents are investigated 2 November, reports issued 13 days later. Instructions for manufacturing and assembly improvements are implemented, production and flying resume 28 November.
22 NovemberA
Tellier T.3 seaplane piloted by U.S. Navy Ensign Kenneth R. Smith, with Electrician's Mate Wilkinson and Machinist's Mate Brady on board, was forced down at sea on a flight out of NAS LeCroisic, France, to investigate the reported presence of German submarines south of Belle Isle. Two days later, and only minutes before their damaged aircraft sank, they were rescued by a French destroyer. It was the first armed patrol by a U.S. Naval Aviator in European waters.
DecemberSecond prototype
Sopwith Snipe,
B9963, tricky to fly as its 230 hp (170 kW)
Bentley BR2 rotary engine had immense
torque that made directional control difficult, as well as being tail heavy while climbing, and nose heavy while diving, crashes, probably at RAE Farnborough, England. This airframe may have been a rebuild of B.R.1-engined prototype.
1 December A
Caproni Ca.4 bomber, c/n 5349, which arrived at Langley Field, Virginia, as part of a shipment of various Italian aircraft in September 1917, but whose erection was delayed by lack of an appropriate hangar, is finally readied for flight on this date. Upon takeoff, one motor fails and unable to maintain airspeed on the remaining two powerplants, the airframe piles up on the edge of the field. No injuries, but the airframe is a total loss.
12 DecemberNorth Sea class blimp
N.S.5 sets off for RNAS East Fortune, but both engines fail within sight of her destination, and she drifts with the wind for about 10 miles (16 km) before they can be restarted. However, since both engines continue to be troublesome it is decided to make a "free balloon" landing, but the ship is damaged beyond repair during the attempt.
Early 1918Sole prototype of the Curtiss CB (Curtiss Battleplane), unofficially known as the "Liberty Battler",
34632, an experimental two-seat fighter developed and flown early in this year as a result of difficulties being experienced with the Liberty-engined version of the Bristol F2B, proves to have extremely poor handling characteristics and subsequently crashes early in its test programme. Three additional airframes,
34633-34635, cancelled.
5 JanuaryImperial German Navy Zeppelin,
L 47, LZ87, destroyed by a giant explosion at the air base in
Ahlhorn, along with
L 46, LZ94,
L 51, LZ97, and
L 58, LZ105, and one non-Zeppelin-type airship, stabled in three adjacent hangars. This is supposed to have been an accident, though
sabotage could not be ruled out.
7 FebruaryDuring U.S. Navy tests of a converted Curtiss N-9 biplane as an unpiloted
flying bomb, equipped with a
Sperry automatic control,
Lawrence Sperry takes it up to prove airworthiness of the design, crashes, but pilot unhurt.
Night of 7/8 MarchCaptain Henry Clifford Stroud (July 1893 – 7 March 1918) of
No. 61 Squadron RFC,
Rochford Aerodrome,
Essex, flying an S.E.5a,
B679, and Capt Alexander Bruce Kynoch (5 January 1894 – 7 March 1918) of
No. 37 Squadron RFC in a Royal Aircraft Factory BE 12,
C3208, out of Stow Maries Aerodrome,
Essex, are killed in a midair collision over
Shotgate about midnight. Kynoch took off at 2329 hrs. while Stroud took off at 2330 hrs., both attempting to intercept a German raider headed for London, but collided on a moonless night, both coming down in Dollymans Farm. Stroud is buried in the churchyard of St. Andrews Church in Rochford. Kynoch is buried in St. Pancras and Islington Cemetery in
north London.
10 MarchSole prototype
Nieuport B.N.1,
C3484, operating out of Sutton's Farm, a home aerodrome, Great Britain, catches fire in the air and is destroyed. No further development undertaken.
28 MarchSole prototype of the Breguet LE (Laboratoire Eiffel), a single-seat fighter monoplane, crashes on its second flight, out of Villacoublay, France, when it dives into the ground at full-throttle, killing pilot Jean Sauclière. Further development suspended.
4 AprilRoyal Flying Corps SPAD 12,
S.449/
B6877, equipped with engine No. 9253, crashes during flight from
Martlesham Heath to the
Isle of Grain. Records do not indicate any attempts to repair or replace the sole example of this model received by the RFC.
2 May de Havilland DH.4M,
AS-32084, during test flight of the
Liberty engine by Major Oscar Brindley, "the Army's most experienced pilot", and Lt. Col. Henry Damm, out of
McCook Field,
Dayton, Ohio, takes off at maximum weight, stalls before clearing "the small maple trees that bordered the field and crashed to the ground before the eyes of horrified witnesses. Maj. Brindley died instantly, and Lt. Col. Damm passed away on the trip to the hospital." The cause was found to be a spark plug that "had jammed itself between the wing's trailing edge and aileron, making it impossible for Brindley to control the craft."
9 MayU.S. Army Maj. Harold Melville Clark accomplishes first three-island flight in the
Hawaiian Islands when he and mechanic Sgt. Robert Gray depart from
Fort Kamehameha in a Curtiss R-6 of the 6th Aero Squadron, make a stop in
Maui, and then continue to the island of
Hawaii. Clark encounters fog and darkness over the island, causing him to crash in the jungle near Hilo. Two days after the crash, Clark and Gray emerge from the Hawaiian jungle unhurt. According to Harold Richards in "The History of Army Aviation in Hawaii", Clark accomplished another "first" on this flight as he had agreed to deliver two letters from
Oahu residents to their relatives on Hawaii. After emerging from the jungle, Clark delivers the letters to their intended recipients. Thus, Clark carried the first letters by airmail in the
Hawaiian Islands.
19 MayFirst prototype
Sopwith Salamander,
E5429, crashes during test program while with
No. 65 Squadron when the pilot has to avoid a tender crossing the aerodrome responding to another crash.
3 JuneOne
Zeppelin-Staaken R.VI, a four-engined German biplane
strategic bomber, modified as a float-equipped seaplane for the
Marine-Fliegerabteilung (Imperial German Naval Air Service), with the designation Type L, serial
1432, using Maybach engines, first flown on 5 September 1917, crashes during testing on this date.
8 JuneFirst prototype Handley Page V/1500 bomber,
E4104, powered by tandem pairs of
Rolls-Royce Eagle engines, first flown on 22 May 1918, crashes on thirteenth flight while piloted by Capt. Vernon E. G. Busby when all four engines quit at 1,000 feet altitude (300 m), possibly due to fuel starvation. Pilot attempts turn back to airfield but stalls and spins in. Four riding in the forward fuselage are killed on impact, two in rear rescued before airframe is consumed by fire, but one dies later of injuries. As aircraft was destroyed by post-crash fire, no determination could be made of cause of accident. Although two V/1500s of
166 Squadron are ready for a mission on 8 November 1918, bad weather cancels raid, and with the
armistice signed on 11 November 1918 the type never flies operationally.
19 JuneLt. Frank Stuart Patterson, son and nephew of the co-founders of National Cash Register, is killed in the crash of his DH.4M,
AS-32098, at
Wilbur Wright Field during a flight test of a new mechanism for synchronizing machine gun and propeller, when a tie rod breaks during a dive from 15,000 feet (4,600 m), causing the wings to separate from the aircraft. Wishing to recognize the contributions of the Patterson family (owners of NCR) the area of Wright Field east of Huffman Dam (including Wilbur Wright Field, Fairfield Air Depot, and the
Huffman Prairie) is renamed Patterson Field on 6 July 1931, in honor of Lt. Patterson.
9 JulyThe fourth-highest-scoring British ace of the Great War, Maj.
James Thomas Byford McCudden, is killed when he side-slips into the ground while trying to return to the airfield at
Auxi-le-Château after the engine of his S.E.5a cuts out. McCudden had taken off to fly to his new command,
No. 60 Squadron RAF. He had 57 aerial victories.
Between 27 July and 1 AugustThird prototype
Sopwith Salamander,
E5431, crashes in France before a newly-applied disruptive
camouflage scheme can be evaluated.
28 JulyRoyal Air Force Sopwith Dolphin E4449 flown by Tone Bayetto crashed in Hampshire, England when the wings folded back and it dived into the ground from 200 feet.
10 AugustLt. Erich Loewenhardt, third-highest-scoring German ace of the Great War, is KWF when the wheels of a
Fokker D.VII flown by Lt. Alfred Wentz of
Jasta 11 (also spelt Wenz in some sources) collide with the wing of his own
Fokker D.VII, causing it to crash. He bails out but his chute fails to open. Lowenhardt, posted to JG.1, and flying with
Jasta 10 from July 1917, scored 53 victories before his death. Wentz successfully bails out of his stricken fighter.
13 AugustJarvis Jennes Offutt (1894–1918), becomes the first fatality among natives of
Omaha, Nebraska in
World War I, when his S.E.5 crashed during a training flight near Valheureux, France, and succumbs to his injuries. The Flying Field, Fort George Crook, Nebraska renamed Offutt Field, 6 May 1924.
16 AugustRoyal Navy Air Service airship,
R27, destroyed in a hangar fire at
RNAS Howden along with a makeshift SSZ class blimp and two SSZ class blimps,
SSZ.38 and
SSZ.54. One airman dies.
19 AugustFirst of three crashes of new Fokker E.V. (
Eindekker V, or monoplane five), six of which are delivered to
Jasta 6 of the Imperial German Air Service on 7 August, to occur in a week, kills
Leutnant Emil Rolff when wing fails, and, like the Fokker Triplane before it, the type is grounded for investigation. Problem traced to shoddy workmanship at the
Mecklenburg factory where defective wood spars, water damage to glued parts, and pins carelessly splintering the members instead of securing them are discovered. Upon return to service two months later, design is renamed the
Fokker D.VIII in an effort to distance type's reputation as a killer. Rolff had scored the first kill in the type on 17 August.
24 AugustU.S Army Maj. William Roy Ream, the first flying surgeon of the United States Army, becomes the first flight surgeon to die in an aircraft accident, at the
Effingham, Illinois airport, out of
Chanute Field, Illinois, when his aircraft stalls/spins and crashes. Later in 1918, the Army renames the Aviation Field at what is now
Naval Outlying Landing Field Imperial Beach, California, originally opened in 1917, as Ream Field.
7 September "By
Associated Press to THE SUN -
MATHER FIELD, Sacramento, Cal., Sept. 7. - Flying Cadets William G. Wilson, of
Berkeley, California, and a son of J. Stitt Wilson, at one time a candidate for the socialist party for governor of California, and James H. Wilson. of
Pueblo, Colorado, met death today when their airplanes collided in the air. The accident occurred at the south end of the field. They were not related. Civilians who witnessed the collision said the airplanes came together head on. One of the airplanes tumbled downward and crashed to the earth, while the other seemed to be descending for a landing, witnesses said. William G. Wilson was killed instantly. He suffered a fractured skull and internal injuries. James E. Wilson was removed to the base hospital where he died about 25 minutes after the accident. He suffered internal injuries and his thigh was injured. The bodies of the two cadets were taken to an undertaking establishment in Sacramento where they will remain pending instructions from the relatives. They were draped with American flags. The cadets were flying at an altitude of about 3,500 feet when the airplanes came together. The accident occurred near Walsh station, a short distance from the southern end of the field. The wrecked airplanes fell to earth at points about a half mile apart." Curtiss JN-4Ds AS-
3673 and AS-
3995 written off in this accident.
11 SeptemberThird prototype
Vickers Vimy,
B9954, crashes during testing – stalls on takeoff with full load at Martlesham Heath, bomb load explodes, pilot killed.
25 SeptemberChief Machinist's Mate Francis E. Ormsbee went to the rescue of two men in a aircraft which had crashed in
Pensacola Bay, Florida. He pulled out the gunner and held him above water until help arrived, then made repeated dives into the wreckage in an unsuccessful attempt to rescue the pilot. For his heroism, Chief Ormsbee was awarded the
Medal of Honor.
1 FebruaryFlt. Lt. Frank Lloyd, attached to
No. 61 Squadron RAF, left Rochford Aerodrome, Essex, in a
Sopwith Camel biplane accompanied by another aircraft. His plane subsequently was flying very low over
Westcliff-on-Sea, and just missing house roofs, it hit a trolley standard, then swerved and hit a large tree, removing many branches, turned over and crashed to the ground in allotments by Fairmead Avenue and burst into flames. Various people rushed to rescue Lloyd but he died of multiple injuries. He had been married just two weeks.
4 FebruaryFirst of three Bristol F.2C Badger prototypes,
F3495, suffers crash landing when its 320 hp (240 kW)
ABC Dragonfly I nine-cylinder radial engine fails during the type's first take-off due to an air lock in the fuel feed. Pilot Cyril Uwins unhurt. Aircraft is subsequently rebuilt and flown.
9 AprilSecond of only two
Bristol M.R.1 metal-covered, two-seat biplanes built,
A5178, powered by 180 hp
Wolseley Viper engine, flown by
Capt. Frank Barnwell, strikes pine tree on approach to RAE Farnborough's North Gate and is written off.
2 MayA U.S. Army seaplane en route on afternoon flight from
Balboa, Panama to France Field, near present-day
Colón, Panama, with three aviators on board, suffers engine failure shortly after departure. Pilot Lt. J. R. L. Hitt attempts landing on Miraflores Lake but aircraft falls short and hits the front of the
Miraflores Locks of the
Panama Canal at ~1700 hrs. Airframe crumples "like a house of cards", according to account published by the
Panama Star & Herald on 3 May. Hitt, Lt. Thomas Cecil Tonkin, and Maj. Harold Melville Clark (4 October 1890 – 2 May 1919) are all thrown from the aircraft into the water of the lock. "Lieutenant Tonkin was undoubtedly killed instantly by the twisting timbers of the machine. ...Major Clark sank to the bottom of the lock, and it's not known whether he was killed in the crash or whether he drowned", stated the article. Hitt was severely injured in the crash, but was rescued by bystanders. The
Panama Star & Herald reported that a diver was sent to retrieve Clark's body. The Army rules his death as an accident due to internal injuries caused by "aeroplane traumatism", according to a
War Department report on Clark's death dated 8 May 1919, and awards his mother $10,000. Clark is buried 29 May 1919, with full military honors at
Arlington National Cemetery. Clark had made the first-ever inter-island flight in the Hawaiian Islands on 15 March 1918, in a Curtiss N-9 of the 6th Aero Squadron.
Fort Stotsenburg, established in the
Philippines in 1902, is renamed
Clark Air Base with the establishment of the U.S. Air Force in 1947.
26 MayMonstrous Royal Air Force three-wing, six-engine
Tarrant Tabor bomber,
F1765, attempts first flight at
Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough, noses over on lift-off, forward fuselage crushed back to the wing, both crew, Capts. F. G. Dunn and P. T. Rawlings killed. No second prototype is ever built.
8 JuneBiplane bomber, Cierva BCD3 (Barcala-Cierva-Diaz), designed by
Juan de la Cierva, reminiscent of the German Gotha, powered by a trio of 220 hp Hispano Suiza engines, called
El Cangrejo (The Crab), is destroyed on a test flight when it stalls close to the ground. Pilot, Capt. Julio Rios Argiieso (also reported as Angueso), is shaken up but survives. Project is abandoned.
2 JulyU.S. Navy blimp C-8 explodes while landing at Camp Holabird, Maryland, injuring ~80 adults and children who were watching it. Windows in homes a mile away are shattered by the blast.
15 JulyRoyal Navy North Sea class airship
N.S.11 burns over the North Sea off
Norfolk, England, killing twelve. In the early hours of 15 July on what was officially supposed to be a mine-hunting patrol, she was seen to fly beneath a long "greasy black cloud" off
Cley next the Sea on the Norfolk coast and a massive explosion was heard shortly after. A vivid glare lasted for a few minutes as the burning airship descended, and finally plunged into the sea after a second explosion. There were no survivors, and the findings of the official Court of Enquiry were inconclusive, but amongst other possibilities it was thought that a lightning strike may have caused the explosion.
SummerSole flying prototype of Curtiss 18-B two-
bay biplane version of 18-T triplane trainer, USAAS
40058, 'P-86', crashes early in flight trials at
McCook Field,
Dayton, Ohio. Type not ordered into production. One non-flying prototype also delivered for static testing.
1 AugustTop World War I Russian ace Aleksandr Kazakov (32 kills, but only 20 officially) is killed in the crash of what was probably a
Sopwith Camel. On 1 August 1918 Kazakov became a major in the Royal Air Force and was appointed to be commanding officer in charge of an aviation squadron of the Slavo-British Allied Legion made up of Camels. After the British withdrawal from Russia which left the Russian
White Army in a desperate situation, Kazakov died in a aircraft crash during an air show on this date which was performed to boost the morale of the Russian anti-Bolshevik troops. Most witnesses of the incident thought Kazakov committed suicide.
10 August Lts. Harold G. Peterson, pilot, and Paul H. Davis, observer-gunner, depart from
Marfa Field, in the
Big Bend area of Texas, on a routine Sunday morning patrol of the U.S.-Mexican border, in Curtiss JN-4D,
24146, based at
Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas, "Their mission was to patrol along the
Rio Grande from
Lajitas to Bosque Bonito and then land at Fort Bliss. Coming to the mouth of the
Rio Conchos at Ojinaga, Chihuahua (opposite
Presidio, Texas), they mistook the Conchos for the Rio Grande and followed it many miles into Mexico before being forced down by engine trouble. Thinking they were still on the Rio Grande, the airmen picked a spot on the "American" side of the river to land. The terrain was rough and the plane was wrecked. Having buried the machine-guns and ammunition to keep it out of the hands of bandits, Peterson and Davis started walking down the river, thinking they would come to the U.S. Cavalry outpost at
Candelaria, Texas." It is assumed when they fail to arrive at Fort Bliss that they have either returned to
Marfa or had been forced down. A search is begun on 11 August as far south as
Chihuahua City, but the flyers, caught in thick brush, are not seen when overflown on 12 August by a plane following the Conchos. Search continues until Sunday, 17 August, when word is received by Capt. Leonard F. ("Two-Gun") Matlack, commanding Troop K,
8th Cavalry, at Candelaria, that the airmen are being held for ransom. "The flyers had been taken prisoner on Wednesday, August 13, by a Villista desperado named Jesus Renteria. The bandit sent the ransom note to a rancher at Candelaria, along with telegrams which he forced the airmen to write to their fathers and the Secretary of War, the Commanding General of the Southern Department, and the Commanding Officer of U.S. forces in the Big Bend District. Renteria demanded $15,000 not later than Monday, August 18, or the two Americans would be killed." The War Department authorizes the payment, and local ranchers subscribe to the full amount so that it can be disbursed from the Marfa National Bank. Negotiations through intermediaries see Captain Matlack crossing the border on Monday night to swap half the money for one American. All goes smoothly and in 45 minutes he returns with Lieutenant Peterson. But en route to the rendezvous with the other half of the ransom, Matlack overhears Renteria's men discussing killing both Americans once they have the money. At the meeting, Matlack pulls a gun, directs the Mexicans to tell Renteria to "go to hell", and, avoiding the ambush, rides back across the border with Lieutenant Davis. On Tuesday, 19 August, Capt. Matlack leads Troops C and K, 8th Cavalry, in pursuit of Renteria and his gang. Air Service planes scout ahead, and 1st Lts. Frank Estill and Russell H. Cooper spot three horsemen in a canyon ~12–15 miles W of Candelaria in late afternoon. When they close for a look, the riders fire on the DH.4. Estill makes a firing pass with his machine guns and Cooper opens up with his Lewis guns, killing one man, reportedly Renteria. The search for the gang continues until 23 August when, with the Mexican government protesting the invasion of its territory, American forces return to the U.S. The loss of JN-4D
24146 was recorded 13 August.
8 OctoberDuring the first (and only) transcontinental reliability and endurance test, an air race between Roosevelt Field,
Long Island, New York and the
Presidio of San Francisco, California, Brig. Gen.
Lionel Charlton, Royal Air Force, the British Air Attaché, hits a fence during a forced landing near
Ithaca, New York in his
Bristol F.2 Fighter, 2nd Lt. George C. McDonald hits a ditch when engine trouble in his unspecified type (probably a de Havilland) forces him down at
Plymouth, Pennsylvania, and 1st Lt. D. B. Gish's DH-4 catches fire over
Livingston County in western New York state, and he makes an emergency landing. Neither he, nor his passenger, Capt. Paul de la Vergne of the French air service and French Air Attaché, are injured, but the aircraft is written-off. A forced landing kills Sgt. W. H. Nevitt when the
Liberty L-12 engine of the DH-4B piloted by Col. Gerald C. Brant fails after an oil line breaks. Plane plunges to the ground near Deposit, New York when power is lost on landing, killing Nevitt and injuring Brant. Of entrants flying from the
Presidio to New York, one DH-4B crashes attempting to land at
Salt Lake City,
Utah, killing pilot Maj. Dana H. Crissy, commander of
Mather Field, California, and his mechanic, SFC Virgil Thomas. The flying field at the Presidio is subsequently named
Crissy Field.
9 OctoberContinuing the cross-country contest, a DH-4B hits the side of a mountain W of
Cheyenne, Wyoming, killing 1st Lt. Edwin V. Vales and badly injuring 2nd Lt. William C. Goldsborough. Lt. A. M. Roberts and his observer survive a close call when, in an effort to make up for lost time, Roberts chooses the direct route, over
Lake Erie, between
Buffalo and
Cleveland. His engine fails, and he has to ditch in the lake. Luckily, a passing freighter sees the crash and picks up the two men.
10 OctoberOn third day of transcontinental contest, an east-bound DH-4B, piloted by Maj. Albert Sneed, almost out of gas, makes fast landing at Buffalo, New York. Passenger Sgt. Worth C. McClure undoes his seatbelt and slides onto the rear fuselage to weight down the tail for a quicker stop. Plane bounces on landing, smashes nose-first into the ground, and McClure is thrown off and killed.
15 OctoberTwo more fatalities are recorded in the transcontinental endurance test when 2nd Lts. French Kirby and Stanley C. Miller die in an emergency landing in their DH-4 near the Wyoming–
Utah border when they suffer engine failure near
Evanston, Wyoming. During the two-week test, 54 accidents wreck or damage planes. Twenty-nine result from motor trouble, 16 from bad landings, 5 from poor weather, 2 when pilots lose their way, 1 in take-off, and 1 by fire. In 42 cases the accident meant the end of the race for the pilot. Seven fatalities occur during the race, one in a de Havilland DH-4B, the others in DH-4s. Lt. John Owen Donaldson was awarded the
Mackay Gold Medal for taking first place in the Army's only transcontinental air race.
Donaldson Air Force Base, South Carolina, would be eventually named for the Great War ace (eight credited victories).
AutumnA
Caquot Type R observation balloon, manufactured by
Goodyear, being deflated at
Fort Sill, Oklahoma, explodes, with 24 soldiers handling sand bags on the leeward side of the balloon receiving burns. A dramatic photo exists of men bolting away from the airship as it ignites. Nearly 1,000 were manufactured in 1918–1919. A Type R is displayed at the
National Museum of the United States Air Force, thought to be the sole survivor of some manufactured in Great Britain during WW II.
1 FebruaryWorld War I American ace (twelve victories)
Field Eugene Kindley is killed in a crash at Kelly Field near San Antonio, Texas, during a demonstration flight for General
John J. Pershing. A control cable snaps on the
Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 biplane Kindley is flying,
AS-8137, of the
96th Aero Squadron, he stalls, falls from an altitude of 100 feet.
Kindley Air Force Base,
Bermuda, is later named for him. Other sources give his crash date as both 2 February and 3 February.
17 MarchNieuport 28C-1, U.S. Navy BuNo
A5794, crashes on turret on takeoff from USS
Arizona, operating in Caribbean waters. Obtained from Army after Armistice.
19 AprilTwo aircraft written-off in separate accidents at Bolling Field, Washington, D.C. The forced landing after engine failure of an SE-5A, serial not recorded, flown by R. S. Haynes, near the U.S. Soldier's Home in northwest Washington, D.C., shows in reports dated 20 April.
22 AprilThree more aircraft are wrecked at Bolling Field, Washington, D.C., including Airco DH.4, AS-
32562, piloted by Harold A. McGinniss, heavily damaged in a forced landing. Source lists it as a DH-4M, but this is suspect as that model does not appear until 1923.
22 MayBristol F.2C Badger partial prototype, completed in 1919 for aerodynamic tests, using Armstrong-Siddeley Puma engine, but only the wings and undercarriage of the Badger design (and locally referred to as the Badger X – for experimental) crashes this date. It is entered on the civil register as
K110, AFTER it has already been written off.
19 JuneU.S. Navy D-1 blimp,
A4450, is destroyed by fire at the
Goodyear Wingfoot Lake Airship Base,
Suffield Township, Portage County, Ohio. Also lost are two balloons owned by the
Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. The origin of the fire, which broke out in a hangar, was not known. Losses were estimated at $160,000.
5 JulyDundalk Flying Field, opened in Baltimore, Maryland in 1920, is almost immediately renamed Logan Field when, on this date, Army Lt. Patrick H. Logan is fatally injured after his
Nieuport 28,
F6506, nicknamed the "Red Devil", crashes at the airport's inaugural air show following a stall/spin. In response to the tragedy, the airfield is renamed in his honor, with the announcement of the new name being made at the closing ceremonies of the airshow during which he died.
8 July Five Mexican military flyers are killed late this date in the crash of a Farman biplane, which falls 1,900 feet and comes down near La Colorada, Mexico. The plane was en route north from
Mexico City with seven on board.
12 AugustLt. William Calvin Maxwell, 28, of the 3d Aero Squadron, Camp Stotsenberg in Luzon,
Philippines, a native of
Atmore, Alabama, is killed in an aviation crash in the Philippines. While on a flight from Camp Stotsenberg to Manila, engine trouble forced Lt. Maxwell to attempt to land his DH-4, AS-
23587, in a sugarcane field. Maneuvering to avoid a group of children playing below, he struck a flagpole hidden by the tall sugarcane and was killed instantly. On the recommendation of his former commanding officer, Maj. Roy C. Brown, Montgomery Air Intermediate Depot, Montgomery, Alabama, was renamed
Maxwell Field on 8 November 1922.
2 OctoberU.S. Navy Lt. Cdr. William Merrill Corry, Jr. (5 October 1889 – 6 October 1920), of
Quincy, Florida, designated Naval Aviator No. 23 in March 1916, while on a flight from Long Island, New York, with another pilot, the aircraft crashes, with Corry earning the Medal of Honor "for heroic service in attempting to rescue a brother officer from a flame-enveloped airplane near Hartford, Connecticut. On 2 October 1920, an airplane in which Lieutenant Commander Corry was a passenger crashed and burst into flames. He was thrown 30 feet clear of the aircraft and, though injured, rushed back to the burning machine and endeavored to release the pilot. In so doing he sustained serious burns, from which he died four days later." In 1923, Corry Field, a new satellite airfield for
Naval Air Station Pensacola, is named in his honor. Three U.S. Navy
destroyers have been named USS
Corry, a
Clemson-class in 1921, a
Gleaves-class in 1941, and a
Gearing-class, in 1945.
23 MarchIn an all-night training flight, a U.S. Navy free balloon,
A-5597, launches from NAS Pensacola, Florida, with five crew and drifts over the
Gulf of Mexico. Two messages received by pigeon indicate it first is 20 miles from
St. Andrews Bay, then that all ballast had been dropped and that it was at 100 feet and descending. On 8 April 1921, a fishing vessel finds the balloon floating on the sea, with the gondola three and a half fathoms under water. Nothing is ever found of Chief Quartermaster E. W. Wilkinson, enlisted men R. V. Wyland, E. L. Kershaw, and J. P. Elder, and Marine Corps member W. H. Tressey.
28 MaySeven men, five of the Army and two civilians, were killed in the wreck of an Army
Curtiss Eagle ambulance airplane, USAAS
64243, of the
1st Provisional Air Brigade, at
Morgantown, Maryland, near
Indian Head, 40 miles southeast of Washington, in a terrific wind and electrical storm at 1825 hrs. The dead were: Lieutenant Colonel
Archie Miller, U.S.A., M. H., Washington, D.C.;
Maurice Connolly of
Dubuque, Iowa, formerly a member of the
United States House of Representatives; A. G. Batchelder of Washington, chairman of the Board of the
American Automobile Association; Lieutenant Stanley M. Ames of Washington, pilot of the wrecked plane; Lieutenant Cleveland M. McDermott, Langley Field, Virginia; Lieutenant John M. Pennewill, Langley Field, Virginia; and Sergeant Mechanic Richard Blumenkranz, Washington. Army Air Service officers said the accident was the worst in the history of aviation in the United States and that it was one of the few in which all of the passengers in a falling aircraft had been killed almost instantly. The ship struck the ground nose first and the impact was so great that the big 400-horsepower Liberty motor in the front end of the craft was torn from its chassis and thrown back into the cockpit on top of the pilot and the passengers. All the bodies were mutilated. The Curtiss-Eagle was returning from a trip to Langley Field, near
Newport News, Virginia, where it had departed at 1630 hrs., and had just crossed the
Potomac River, when it ran into the storm which had passed over Washington an hour before.
7 JulyUS Navy Airship C-3 burns at Naval Air Station Hampton Roads,
Norfolk, Virginia12 JulyMajor Sheldon Harley Wheeler is killed in the crash of DH-4B,
AS-63525, on take off from Luke Field,
Ford Island,
Oahu, Hawaiian Islands. He was commander of Luke Field at the time of his death. In February 1922 construction began on a new airfield in the Wahiawa District of the Island and on 11 November it was named Wheeler Field in his honour.
19 JulyUSAAS pilot 1st Lt. Willard S. Clark is killed at Ellington Field, Texas, when his
Orenco D enters a spin at low altitude and plunges to the ground. All aircraft manufactured in this batch are grounded.
24 AugustDuring its fourth flight, the British airship
R38 (
ZR-2), due to be delivered to the
United States Navy as the
ZR-2, broke in two on a test flight near
Hull, England, the forward half falling into the
Humber River whereupon spilt gasoline on the water caught fire, while the stern, not in flames, settled on a sandbar. The ship had been undergoing turning trials, at 63 mph at 2,500 feet, with the rudders worked to their maximum, causing the lightweight structure to fail. 44 died, including British Air Commodore E.M. Maitland, Leader of Airships, and 16 Americans. Maxfield Field at NAS Lakehurst,
New Jersey, named 6 January 1944 in honor of Commander Louis H. Maxfield, Naval Aviator No. 17, who lost his life in the
R38 crash.
31 AugustU.S. Navy airship D-6,
A5972, with a C-type envelope built by
Goodyear in 1920 and a special enclosed car built by the
Naval Aircraft Factory, is destroyed in the
Naval Air Station Rockaway hangar gasoline fire along with two small dirigibles, the C-10 and the Goodyear airship H-1,
A5973, the sole H-model, a powered two-seat observation balloon built along the lines of the commercial Goodyear "Pony Blimp", and the kite balloon A-P.
29 SeptemberFirst
Orenco D manufactured by Curtiss,
63281, McCook Project Number 'P163', loses entire leading edge of its upper wing, crashing at McCook Field, Ohio. An investigation by an officer of the flying test section of the USAAS Engineering Division reveals that the Orenco Ds are badly constructed, no fewer than 30 defects and faulty fittings being recorded in the published report, forcing the Air Service to withdraw all Orenco Ds from use (Joe Baugher cites date of 28 September).
28 DecemberSecond Lieutenant Samuel Howard Davis (1896–1921) is killed in the crash of Curtiss JN-6HG-1 (possibly USAAS serial
44796, seen wrecked at
Carlstrom AAF, date unknown) in which he was a passenger, at Carlstrom Field,
Arcadia, Florida. Davis-Monthan Landing Field, later Davis-Monthan Air Force Base,
Tucson, Arizona, is named in part for him, 1 November 1925. He attended high school in that community.
21 FebruaryU.S. Army semi-rigid (blimp with a keel)
Roma, bought from Italy, formerly
T34, suffers control box failure at stern in flight, nosed into the ground, struck power lines at Army supply base, Norfolk, Virginia, and burst into flames, killing 34 of 45 on board, including Capt.
Dale Mabry, its commander. This would remain the worst American aviation accident until the loss of the USS
Akron in 1933.Accident spurs American lighter-than-air operations to switch to
helium, less buoyant than hydrogen, but non-inflammable.
Dale Mabry Municipal Airport in
Tallahassee, Florida, that city's first airport, was named after Mabry, a Tallahassee native.
21 FebruaryU.S. Marine Corps Naval Aircraft Factory F-5-L,
A-3591, of VS-1M, crashed during a night flight, this date.
JuneSole prototype of the Royal Air Force
Vickers Valentia flying boat,
N124, which was constructed between 1918 and 1921, and completed by S.E. Saunders of
Cowes,
Isle of Wight, crashes and is written off.
17 June Army airmen Lieutenant Robert O. Hanley (also reported as Robert E. Hanley) and Sergeant Arthur Opperman are killed near
Louisville, Kentucky, when their DH.4, U.S. Army Air Service serial number not recorded, crashes while making a sharp banking turn. Airframe destroyed by post-crash fire. The men were airborne to photograph the airshow that was to shortly begin. The aircraft was assigned to the 7th Photo Section at
Godman Field, Camp Knox, Kentucky.
23 SeptemberA
Martin NBS-1 bomber, Air Service
68487, Raymond E. Davis, pilot, nose dived and crashed from an estimated altitude of 500 feet on a residential street near
Mitchel Field,
Mineola, New York, killing the six military personnel on board. At the time, the aircraft was involved in a night time war game display that was lit by
searchlights and watched by an estimated crowd of 25,000 spectators.
OctoberHangar fire at Martlesham Heath, Great Britain, destroys a number of captured aircraft from the Great War.
14 October The Navy-Wright NW-1, BuNo
A-6543, a racer designed and built in a mere three months, flew for the first time on 11 October 1922, just days before it was entered in the 14 October 1922 Pulitzer air race at Selfridge Field, Michigan. Entered at the last minute, the press dubbed the new entry, the Mystery Racer. Assigned to the second of three heats, and wearing race number 9, the close-fitting cowling over the Wright T-2 engine retained heat and caused the oil temperature to exceed its operating limit. Streaming smoke around the race course, the pilot was over
Lake St. Clair, near
Detroit when the red-hot engine failed. "The extreme low position of the lower wing was not conducive to ditching and the "Mystery Racer" flipped over and sank in the mud. The aircraft was written-off but the pilot emerged unscathed."
17 OctoberU.S. Army's largest blimp,
C-2, catches fire shortly after being removed from its hangar at
Brooks Field, San Antonio, Texas for a flight. Seven of eight crew aboard are injured, mostly in jumping from the craft. This accident was made the occasion for official announcement by the Army and the Navy that the use of hydrogen would be abandoned "as speedily as possible." On 14 September 1922, the
C-2 had made the first transcontinental airship flight, from Langley Field, Virginia, to Foss Field, California, under the command of Maj H. A. Strauss.
22 October1st Lt. Harold Ross Harris (1897–1988) becomes the first member of the U.S. Army Air Service to save his life by parachute, when the Loening PW-2A, (probably
AS-64388), he is testing out of McCook Field, Ohio, suffers vibration, loses part of left wing or aileron, so he parts company with the airframe, landing safely. Two sources gives the date as 20 October. McCook Field personnel create the "Caterpiller Club" for those whose lives are saved by parachute bail-out with Harris the plank-holding member.
11 November1st Lt. Frank B. Tyndall is the second U.S. Army Air Service pilot to utilize a parachute in a life-saving effort when the
Boeing-built MB-3A, (probably
AS-68380) he is testing at Seattle, Washington sheds its wings in flight almost directly over the Boeing factory. He would later perish on 15 July 1930 in the crash of Curtiss P-1F Hawk,
28–61, near
Mooresville, North Carolina.
Tyndall Air Force Base is named in his honor.
12 NovemberLt. Cdr.
Godfrey DeCourcelles Chevalier, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy in June 1910, who was appointed a Naval Air Pilot No. 7 on 7 November 1915 and a Naval Aviator No. 7 on 7 November 1918, crashes in a
Vought VE-7 while en route from NAS Norfolk to
Yorktown, Virginia, dying in Portsmouth Naval Hospital on 14 November as a result of his injuries. On 26 October 1922 Lieutenant Commander Chevalier made the first landing on the USS
Langley's deck, the U.S. Navy's first aircraft carrier, in an Aeromarine 39-B,
A-606.
7 DecemberDH-4B,
AS-63780, departs Rockwell Field, San Diego, California at 0905 hrs. bound for
Fort Huachuca, Arizona, piloted by 1st Lt. Charles L. Webber with Col. Francis C. Marshall aboard for an inspection trip of cavalry posts and camps. When aircraft never arrives, one of the largest man-hunts in Air Service history is mounted but when search is finally given up on 23 February 1923 nothing had been found. Wreckage is eventually discovered 12 May 1923 by a man hunting stray cattle in the mountains. Flight apparently hit
Cuyamaca Peak just a few miles east of San Diego in fog within thirty minutes of departure.
5 MarchMartin GMT (Glenn Martin Transatlantic), USAAS
62949, McCook Field project code 'P-87', loses power on one of two Liberty engines while en route to Chanute Field, Illinois, is unable to stay aloft on one only, crashes. Pilot Maj. Bradley escapes injury, but Lt. Stanley Smith is fatally injured.
12 April Capt.
Hugh J. Knerr, commanding officer of the 88th Observation Squadron, Wright Field, Ohio, and Sgt. John McKenna, returning to Fairfield Air Depot, Ohio, from a reconnaissance flight, suffer a stuck valve on the Liberty engine of Airco DH.4B, USAAS
64566, while hedge-hopping, duck under powerlines directly ahead, and crash-land in a rough pasture near
Richmond, Indiana. Plane takes out ~100 feet of wire fence and strikes a cherry tree, shedding its lower wings and undercarriage, resulting in it being written off. Pilot Knerr suffers a strained neck. Investigation shows that "the accident was unavoidable and through no fault of the pilot." Knerr will medically retire from the U.S. Air Force in 1939 with the rank of major general.
21 AprilCapt. Walter Ralls "Tiny" Lawson, Sr. (b. 23 October 1893) is killed along with four other crew when his Martin MB-2 bomber,
64205, of the
20th Bombardment Squadron, 2d Bombardment Group, crashes into the
Great Miami River in high winds shortly after take off from McCook Field, Dayton, Ohio, the same aircraft he piloted with the
1st Provisional Air Brigade during bomb tests out of Langley Field that sank the former German battleship SMS
Ostfriesland. The Army named the balloon landing facility at Fort Benning, in his home state of Georgia,
Lawson Field in his honor in August 1931. After
World War II the name of Second Lieutenant Ted W. Lawson was added to his, giving the parsimonious post war Army two memorials for the price of one. The second Lawson was author of
Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, a memoir of his experiences as a pilot on the historic World War II raid led by the first Lawson's fellow pilot in the 1st Provisional Air Brigade,
Jimmy Doolittle. At the time of his death, the senior Lawson was commanding officer of the 20th Bombardment Squadron.
31 JulyRAF Bristol F.2B,
E2431, crashes at RAF (Cadet) College,
Cranwell, when it stalls during landing. Aircraft was marked incorrectly
1342E.
15 SeptemberMajor Edward L. Napier, a native of
Union Springs, Alabama, is killed in the crash of a Fokker D.VII,
AS-5382, at McCook Field, Dayton, Ohio, He had been a Medical Corps Officer in the Great War and had transferred to the
Army Air Corps. He was receiving training as a flight surgeon at the time of his death. The official report states that he was piloting the aircraft himself and there was a structural failure of a wing. In 1941, the U.S. Army Air Corps will open Napier Field at
Dothan, Alabama, named in his honor.
23 September1st Lts. Robert Stanford Olmsted and John W. Shoptaw enter U.S. Army balloon
S-6 in international balloon race from
Brussels, despite threatening weather which causes some competitors to drop out.
S-6 collides with Belgian balloon,
Ville de Bruxelles on launch, tearing that craft's netting and knocking it out of the race. Lightning strikes
S-6 over
Nistelrode, the
Netherlands, killing Olmsted outright, and Shoptaw in the fall. Switzerland's
Génève is also hit, burns, killing two on board, as is Spain's
Polar, killing one crew immediately, second crewman jumps from 100 feet, breaking both legs. Three other balloons are also forced down. Middletown Air Depot,
Pennsylvania, was renamed Olmsted AFB on 11 March 1948.
18 NovemberThe first aerial refueling-related fatality occurs during an air show at Kelly Field, Texas, when the fuel hose becomes entangled in the right wings of the refueler and the receiver aircraft. The Army Air Service pilot of the refueler, Lt. P. T. Wagner, is killed in the ensuing crash of DH-4B,
23-444.
23 NovemberFirst of only three
Bristol Jupiter Fighters, essentially adaptations of the Bristol F.2B airframe converted with 425 hp (317 kW)
Bristol Jupiter IV engines and oleo-type undercarriage, crashes due to an engine seizure at high altitude. Second conversion was sold to Sweden in May 1924, and third was converted to a dual-control trainer.
30 NovemberSecond of two prototypes of the Short Springbok Mk. I,
J6975, crashes near Martlesham when it spins in shortly after take off, killing the pilot. Cause is diagnosed as rudder blanking during spinning and a new wing design is prepared for the Short Springbok Mk. II, of which six examples – later reduced to three – are ordered in 1924.
21 DecemberThe French Navy airship Dixmude, formerly the German
LZ114, is lost over the Mediterranean in a storm in early morning with the loss of all 44 of her crew.
16 January While moored at NAS Lakehurst, New Jersey, USS
Shenandoah's upper tail fin covering is ripped during a gale, and the sudden roll tears out her mooring tube from the Lakehurst mast. Damage to the nose deflates the first gas bag and holes the second. Zeppelin test pilot Anton Heinen rides out the storm and lands safely while the airship is being blown backwards. A period of repair is needed, and a proposed Arctic expedition is scrapped.
23 FebruaryLt. John S. Ansley of the 111th Observation Squadron, Texas National Guard, crashes in Curtiss JN-4H,
24-158, (one source gives the type as a Curtiss JN-6 ) at Ellington Field, Texas, when he enters a tailspin during practice, but at insufficient altitude to recover, the airframe smashing into a pile of stacked lumber. The pilot dies later in hospital.
21 MarchMartin GMB (Glenn Martin Bomber), USAAS
64308, ex-Post Office (possibly
202), ends cross-country flight to
Parris Island, South Carolina, noses over when it hits unmarked ditch on the airfield. Pilot 1st Lt. (later Lieutenant General)
Harold L. George reported later that "I also remember being told that it (Parris Island) was an exceptional landing field. It was except that the information had failed to inform me that the Marines had dug a trench across the field. This was not indicated by markers, or in any other way. I didn't know the trench was there until we stopped quickly." Airframe had only logged 99 hours when it was written off.
27 MarchBritish-born 2nd Lt.
Oscar Monthan (1885–1924) is killed when his
Martin NBS-1 bomber,
AS-68448, of the 5th Composite Group, fails to clear baseball field backstop on take-off from Luke Field,
Ford Island, Oahu, Hawaiian Islands. Davis-Monthan Landing Field, later Davis-Monthan Air Force Base,
Tucson, Arizona, is named in part for him, 1 November 1925. He attended high school in that community.
30 AprilOne of the four
Douglas World Cruiser aircraft, the "Seattle",
23-1229, c/n 145, attempting an around-the-globe flight in stages, crashes into a mountain in
Alaska on this date. The crew, Major Frederick L. Martin and Staff Sergeant Alva L. Harvey, survive and make their way through the wilderness to safety. The wreckage of the "Seattle" is later recovered and is now on display in the Alaska Aviation Heritage Museum.
2 June Assisting the U.S. Weather Bureau in research, the USAAS Balloons and Airship School schedules fifteen balloon flights from Scott Field, Illinois, for Dr. C. LeRoy Meisinger, who had gained experience with balloons and meteorology as an Air Service officer during the war. The project ends with the tenth flight, this date, when lightning strikes the balloon, killing both Dr. Meisinger and his pilot, 1st Lt. James M. G. T. Neely.
2 AugustOne of the three surviving
Douglas World Cruiser aircraft, the "Boston",
23-1231, c/n 147, loses oil pressure while flying west over the North Atlantic, has to alight on the open sea. Crew is rescued, but during an attempt to tow the float aircraft by the USS
Richmond, the aircraft capsizes in rough seas and has to be abandoned near the
Faroe Islands.
15 SeptemberA Curtiss N-9 seaplane, equipped with radio control and without a human pilot aboard, was flown on a 40-minute flight at the Naval Proving Grounds,
Dahlgren, Virginia. Although the aircraft sank from damage sustained while landing, this test demonstrated the practicability of radio control of aircraft.
16 OctoberEmergency use of parachute — Following a mid-air collision over
Coronado, California, Gunner William M. Coles, USN, of VF-1, made a successful emergency parachute jump from his Curtiss JN-4.
20 OctoberRAF
Vickers Virginia Mk II
J6856 of
7 Squadron is severely damaged in a force landing at
Bishop's Stortford,
Hertfordshire following an engine failure. The aircraft is subsequently repaired and returned to service.
