The Washington herald., 1912-09-29
TWOARMY MYAYIATORS
DASHED TO DEATH
Cntinued from Page One.

on the altar of advancement OF army
aviation was Lieut.. John Kelley, who
was killed at San Antonio.
The third officer 10 meet his death was
Lieut.. Leighton w. Hazlehurst. who
was killed on June Il, 1912. at the army
aviation field. College Park. when a
Wright machine collapsed.
Corporal Frank S. Scott is the first
enlisted man OF the United States Army
to sacrifice his life. Others have been
injured. but none have been killed or
died of the results OF injuries.
Capt Chandler last night, in discussing
the accident, said:
There is not much that can tell you
about the accident, it all happened SO
quickly. Rockwell had been up in the
air about eight minutes. The machine
seemed to be working perfectly. He had
never reached an altitude OF over 500
feet. I was watching him closely. When
about 800 feet in the air he throttled his
engine to quarter speed and began de-
scending at a gradual angle. ] was eX-
pecting him to shut his engine off and
make a landing. Suddenly he threw his
engine wide open. l thought he intended
TO rise in the air again. and turned my
head away. Although I don't know what
his intentions were. l am sure he in
tended to rise again. For some unac-
countable reason the machine plunged
downward. / cannot advance any theory
as to the cause OF the accident, as the
machine should. under the cIrcum-
stances, have risen in the air. The tail
flew up. and it struck the ground almost
on its nose. Both men were thrown out
and buried under the debris.
Scott was one OF the finest troopers
in the army. Lieut.. Rockwell. although
he reported late in July. was an apt
pupil and quickly attracted attention
by the ease with which he handled ma
chimes.
Made Exhibition Flight.
The accident resulting in the death
of the two men is such a shock to me
that l am really at a loss to speak of
it, 1t is greatly to be regretted and all
officers connected with the school are
overcome with sorrow.
Il do not believe any one Is to blame
and think that the cause of the acci-
dent will never be determined. Cnfor-
tunately it is a heavy toll to pay for the
of a new science"
Lieut.. Rockwell Friday made an ex-
tended flight over the city of Washing
ton for the benefit of the hundreds of
foreign delegates to the Fifteenth In
terna tional Congress OF Hygiene and
the meeting place of the Congress for a
quarter of an hour. and then flew back
to College Park. whence he had come.
High Tribute to Rockwell.
Col George P Scriven. acting chief
signal officer of the army, in speaking OF
the accident last night, paid a hign
tribute to Lieut.. Rockwell as one of the
brightest and ablest OF the young officers
the military aviation corps.
The accident" said Col. Scriven. was
me Of those most regrettable things that
happen in aviation. Not only has the
army lost one of its most promising
young officers, but it has suffered an al
most irreparable loss
Lieut.. Thomas De Witt Milling, a
brother officer of the aviation school,
feels particularly disheartened by the
loss of Lieut.. Rockwell. Lieut. Milling
acted as Lieut.. Rockwells instructor at
the school. In speaking of the accident,
Lieut.. Milling said:
Il am sure that the accident was not
the fault of Lieut.. Rockwell. for he was
one of the most cautious and skillful
operators stationed at College Park. He
thoroughly demonstrated this Friday in
mis- fight over the city. The shock has
been a terrible one to me. l have lost one
# my closest friends, and the aviation
school has lost one of its most promising
officers. ] cannot talk about it,