1947: Two plane crashes in a 24-hour period, one with fatalities. Two people were killed as the result of a mid-air collision between two planes over the airfield. The accident occurred when William Gleason Sauerwein of Falls Church took off from the field in an Aeronca Champion at the same time that F.H. Kirchman, 48, of Vienna, Virginia, was attempting to land while flying a Stinson 105. Both Kirchman and his passenger, Agnes Louise Brady, 47, of Arlington, Virginia, were killed in the accident. Sauerwein was taken to Arlington County hospital with head injuries and a broken leg. Witnesses said that the accident occurred at 7pm when the Stinson cut into the tail of the Aeronca while the planes were approximately 75 feet off the ground. The next day, a second crash occurred when a Funk cabin airplane lost power shortly after takeoff. The pilot, Margaret Vaughn, of Washington, D.C., suffered severe head and leg injuries when the plane crashed into a wooded area about two miles west of the airport, near Gallows Road in Fairfax County. Vaughn was an experienced pilot and was a Link trainer instructor for the Civil Aeronautics Authority. The next day, the Civil Aeronautics Board announced they were conducting a "full inquiry" into the cause of the two crashes. The investigators were specifically concerned with the quality of the gasoline being dispensed at the airport and took samples from Vaughn's aircraft at the scene of the crash.
Who was injured or killed and in what ways in the accidents?
F.H. Kirchman and his passenger Agnes Louise Brady was also killed. William Gleason Sauerwein had a broken leg and head injuries. Margaret Vaughn had severe head and leg injuries.