New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-06-19
WarnefOrd's Dare-deplltry
Caused planes Fatal Fall
Zeppelin Destroyer and Henry Beech Needham LOST
Lives While Doing Tricks IN Ar-InVestga'ioh
Shows No Defect in Engine OF Machine
By c. IMAM BARNARD.

Paris. June is / have seldom seen
such complete wreck as that pre-
scented by the debris of the brand ne"
Farman biplano as il lay in field Of
tall. almost ripe wheat, near the avia-
tion ground Of Buc. not far from Yer
saIlIcs. whence Lieutenant Naruciord
and Henry Beach Nccdham took flight
yesterday afternoon at 4 o'clock on an
ideal summer afternoon with light
uOTthca torly wind.
A spiutercd wing points TO the sky
and tire motor is shapclcSS mass,
buried two feet in the soft soil About
a hundred yards from where the ma
chine fell and few feet apart are the
spots in the wheat field where Narne-
ford and Ncedham fell. The ground IS
still red with their blood.
Needhams death was instantaneous,
life being extinct when his body was
found. Lieutenant Warneford was still
breathing with the greatest difficulty
and unconscious. lie died a few mo-
ments later, while being carried TO the
hospital.
Wore Legion of Honor Cross.
Warneford's Cross of the Legion Of
4AOINls " lIINI4 ne NJ AN " tN4 INK a. AIlt
time of the accident, was found IN the
wheat field, ten yards from the body.
Both of the victims were pitched out
before the biplano fell to the ground.
Yesterday a luncheon had been given
at the Hotel Ritz 20 celebrate LIeuten-
ant Warnefords decoration with the
Legion Of Honor Aftcrward, accom-
panied by Lieutenant Marsden, of the
Royal Navy Flying Corps, he drove to
Versailles.
Lieutenant Warneford first went up
alone in the new Farman biplane, and
after making a swift circle alghtcd
A Young South American lady. who,
with her father, had attended the
luncheon, expressed d strong desire to
20 up in the biplane with Warneford,
and even placed herself in the machine,
but at the last moment her father in
sisted that she remain, and the girl
very reluctantly got out and looked on.
II was then that MIR. Needham ur-
gently asked Lieutenant Narneford II
he might take the young lady's place.
Tie request was granted, and up lhey
went, Warneford remarklng, 1T VII! De
short trip, because | must get back
TO the Ritz for our dinner party, ana l
have lots Of things to do IN PARIS.
MIR. Needham said laughingIy All
right. ! shall always remember TINS
aviation ascent with the man who
smashed that Zeppelin
After the biplane reached an altitude
Of about five hundred feet II SWayed
violently from side to side, and kept
banking at very acute angles.
Tail Apparently Loosened.
AL. ell &c L, w chino an
parcntly became detached, and the
whole apparatus at once dashed TO the
ground. "a. an eyewitness estimated
from a height of coo feet.
II should be noted that Lieutenant
Warneford, who, by the way, haA ar
ranged TO return 10 England to-day 10
meet his mother, was regarded by ms
comuanions as most daring, perhaps
reckless, aviator. .
He got his flying license on March 3
LAST wear. Three days later, March g.,
of regulations, he Topped the
loop.
court and sentenced to be
removed from the flying corps. But
the president Of the court, revising the
PROCEEDINGS. refused TO accept the YER
DICT, saying: This young man has got
grit. Give him another chance And
the court recalled the sentence.
The British royal naval flying corps
began an investigation Of the aeroplane
accident to-day.
No Engine Trouble.
The accounts Of various persons on
the scene disagree as TO the exact
cause. A defect in the tail Of the aero
plane, or in the propeller, or lmpru-
derce on the part of Lieutenant Warne-
ford are among the explanations Of
fcred. That the accident was not due
10 an explosion or TO motor trouble, as
the first reports said. was shown by an
examination of the motor to-day. II
was found to be in perfect condition.
Those who say that the aviator failed
20 exercise proper caution cite the TACT
that the machine fell when Lieutenant
Warneford was steeplechasing. 1t is
said that he had been steeplechasing
for some minutes with Increasing speed
and daring and that suddenly the ma
chine. from a cause as yet unexplained
ana which probably will remain a mys-
terry, was seen TO tip over and dart
downward
Lieutenant Warneford first fell from
the machine. Needham was strapped
t. the seat, and had the strap not given
way he might not have been killed, as
the machine at the time was only about
fifty feet in the air 1t was at its maxi
mum height when Warneford fell.
Necdham hit the propeller blade, and
his death was almost instantaneous.