Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1915-03-15
AVIATOR B[AgH[Y
Falls 70 DEATH
FOREMOST AMERICAN AlRmAN
KILLED IN PLUNGE At SAN
FRANCISCO.
DROPS 5000 FEET INTO
WATERS OF FRISCO BAY
Wings Of Machine Collapse and Thou
sands Of Exposition Visitors Witness
Trasedy-Brother Among Witnesses
Of Aeeident-Beaehey Made Thrilling
Flights at Recent Iowa State Fair.

Lincoln Beachey was one Of the main
attractions at the Iowa state fair and
exposition in Des Moines last fall.
He thrilled the great crowds by his
daring loop-the-loop performances and
by passing out OF sight above the
clouds.
San Francisco, March 10. - The
spectacular career of Lincoln Beachey,
one of the most 1aring Of American
iayiators, was ended Sunday when he
fell to his death at the Panama Pacific
deposition in sight of thousands Of
spectators.
Beachey was completing his second
flight of the day when the accident oc-
Cured. Having previously electrified
the crowd with a series Of aerial
lsomersaults. the airman sought to add
an additional thrill by making one of
the sensational perpendicular drops
which usually featured his tights.
The fatal fall was attributed to the
fact that Beachey entrusted his life
Sunday for the first time to a new
monoplane. An exceptionally large
! crowd had been attracted to the fair
grounds to see whether he would at
! tempt the same breath taking stunts in
the new machine that he had per-
formed in his trim little biplane.
Save Thriller For Last.
on the first flight ali went well and
the aviator familiar tric,.s were in
! dulged in with the exception of the
i perpendicular drop. This Beachey had
saved for the climax It proved too
! much of strain for the frame OF the
monoplane.
| The machine was at an altitude of
about 5000 feet when Beachey shut OF
| his power. For a thousand feet IL
dropped head on for the earth and then
the aviator grasped his control levers
| to adjust the planes for the graceful
| descent which had characterized his
| previous flights.
AT that point the wings crumpled
like a collapsed umbrella, and the aero
plane, turning over and over in its IAN.
plunged into San Francisco bay, mar
rowly missing vessel lying at the
government transport docks.
Crowds Rush to Water Front.
! Thousands of spectators rushed to
the nearby water front, but with the
| exception Of few splintered frag-
ments of tine aeroplane floating on the
surface of the bay. no sign OF the
wrecked machine could be seen.
Launches put out Immediately,
equipped with graphing hooks and
! a boats crew from the battleship Ore
! gon, which was anchored in the stream
a short distance away, Joined in an at
4 r. 1nf, of hn n
tor. who was strapped to his machine
under forty feet of water.
The body was recovered shortly af-
ter ) o'clock, about two hours after the
| accident.
Divers from the Oregon, searching
the shallow inshore waters of the bay,
found the crushed form Of the airman
entangled in the twisted rods and torn
! canvas OF the machine. With axes the
divers freed the body from the wreck
age and brought ii to the surface.
Brother Witnesses Fall.
| Hillary. a brother Of the aviator,
witnessed the tragedy. He was stand
ing on the deck of the United States
transport Crook watching the flight.
He said he heard a cracking sound
like the breaking of a ships mast. He
cried out as the monoplane began to
plunge toward the bay. 1t fell only a
few feet away from the transport
t That Beachey was still alive when
he struck the water and had sustained
no major injury as result Of the fall
except a broken leg, was the opinion
expressed by DR.. David f. Stafford.
autopsy surgeon, who examined the
body at the morgue last night.
The face, said DR.. Stafford, was dis
colored from choking and strangling,
Indicating that death was due to
drowning.
| Cuts on the aviator's hands were
taken to indicate that he had made
desperate efforts to release himself
from the mesh OF twisted wires and
rods in which he was entangled.
/ When the machine fell, Beachey was
protected by the engine propellers and
hood of the monoplane. which struck
the water first. 1t was pointed out that
if Beachey could have disengaged him
iself he probably would have managed
to keep a1oat long enough to be res
cued.
Headed American Aviators.
Lincoln Beachey was regarded as
the most skillful and daring of Ameri-
can aviators. He earned his reputation
long before the french myers began
gliding thru the air upside down.
Born in 1887.
Beachey was interested In aeronau-
tics as schoolboy. He was born in
San Francisco in September, 1887. At
IL he entered the employ of a ballonist
and began TO study aerial navigation.
He made his first fight at Idora park,
Oakland, Cal. in February. 1905, pilot
ing George E. Heaton's dirigible call
loom He was II years old at the time.
In August of that year he flew at
the Lewis and Clark exposition at
Portland. Ore. as aeronaut for Capt.
1T S. Baldwin. His fights there were
not completely successful, but he kept
on trying. In 1906 Beachey Joined Roy
Knabenshue.
He created sensation In July of
that year by flying around the dome
Of the national capitol. to the astonish-
ment Of thousands and the adjournment
of the house of representatives. Huns
dreds Of congressman greeted him az
he alighted at the steps of the capitol.
MAD FEATs REAcHEY,s UNDoINe
Desire "a Accomplish Customary Thrill
ers in New Machine Caused Dsath.
8 < CA Ero - cfac0 March TX - T .ty1ooh