The interior journal. [volume] (Stanford, Ky.) 1912-1984, 1916-06-13
DIED, AS HE LIVED, FOR THE
GLORY OF THE FLAG HE LOVED

and began to fall from a height of
possibly 500 feet. Downward to
Santa Rosa Island the falling ma
chine and aviator plunged; but
when about fifty to sixty feet
from the earth Saufley appeared
to gain control of the machine,
for it righted itself just for Sec
ond, then appeared to tumble over
because of something giving way.
The machine and aviator fell with
a crash. Saufley was dying when
aid reached him. Both legs were
broken, his arm and chest were
crushed in and his body fearfully
bruised. Just what caused the
machine to take tumble will new
er be known. 1t was practically
new airship and had plenty of test
ing before the ascent. A board
was named to investigate the
cause of the accident. This con-
sfsts of Lieuts. Whiting, Bellinger
and Spencer, each of the mavia-
tors, and witnesses to the fall Of
Saufey's machine"
The Pensacola Journal Saturday
morning, June 10, told the following
story of the fatal accident:
Seeking to break his own
world record for sustained hydro
aeroplane flight, made only last
Tuesday, Lieutenant Richard c..
Saufley took the air yesterday
morning at half past four and
scared over Santa Rosa Sound and
Island.
The air he had found on his
previous flight, was exceptionally
still and smooth there.
The day was ideal for flights,
and all was going well. To the
watchers on earth, it was merely
a matter of routine. Saufiey, one
of the worlds masters of aeronau-
tics, had said he was going to
break his record of eight hours
and five minutes sustained flight,
and was simply matter of letting
the clock go round. The regular
drone of the engine told he was
not having the engine trouble that
drove him back to earth the last
time.
Suddenly the machine took a
plunge Saufiey was soaring at
height of five hundred feet at the
time; the watchers knew there was
no reason fol this maneuver. In
the flash of second the flight be-
came incredibly-but a sigh of re-
lief went up as the plane straight
ened out on an even keel again.
Then suddenly - it dropped
headlong, spinning, and crumpled
to trash on Santa Rosa Island, OPP
posite the station.
Two physicians were rushed to
the spot in aeroplanes, and found
Sauf1ey buried beneath the wreck
age. Death had been instantane-
Gus.
If Saufley beat his former rec
ord it was by a few seconds, as
he fell at about one o'clock.
The Cause.
An investigating committee,
consisting of Lieutenant Kenneth
Whiting and Junior Lieutenants P.
N. Bellinger and Earl w. Spen-
Ger, was Immediately appointed to
ascertain if possible, the cause of
the disaster. Their findings are
not made public, but are for the
navy department alone.
The machine was of a modern
type, had been prepared especially
for the endurance flight, and was
in good condition. Judging from
the way the machine behaved, a
broken tail was the cause of the
accident.
The second and fatal drop was
from a distance of probably fifty
feet. Had the machine been over
the water, Saufley's life might
have been saved.
Government Appreciated His Work.
That his remarkable work and sue
cess in the newest branch of the ma
tons military service was amply I'M
derstood and appreciated by the gov
eminent at Washington, is fully in
Dictated by special dispatch from
Washington, which said:
washington, June 10.-The
aeroplane service of the United
States Navy sustained a great loss
Friday when one of its most ex-
perienced aviators, Lieut.. Richard
Caswell Saufiey, of Stanford, KY,
holder of several worlds records,
was killed in a flight at the naval
flying station at Pensacola, Fla.
A dispatch to the Navy Depart
ment stated that aeroplane A.H.9.