The Pensacola journal., 1917-05-02

Plunging one thousa;.I feet in a
WAir}ing noseGive into PeuaacOll bay,
not far from shore in fr0r of Bayou
Chico, Ensign d. r. Van Kirk, a
naval militiaman from Washington,
u. c., was killed at 3:45 p. m. Tues
day. the fifth aviation tragedy to be
recorded here i'm the past three years
three Of which took place in the
month Of May.
What caused the accident is not
! known. It was reported that his
plane caught fire and that he at
| tempted to reach the water, intend
/ ing to flatten out when a hundred
or so feet above the surface and glide
down, but there is nothing to confirm
| this or to prove fire in the first place.
1t is thought that he might have
struck a flaw in the air-although
/ the day was an ideal one for flying,
without guests-and lost control.
His Second Fall.
About two months ago the unfor-
! tunate man had 75-foOt fall, due to
/ his not having the 'feel Of the air"
and this may have been the cause Of
the accident that took his life.
The crash was very close to shore
and was witnessed by many. Two
boats Immediately put out to his as
sistance besides the speed boat from
the station.
Aviator to Assistance.
In the meantime, however, Lieu
tenant f. F. Stone, of the coast
guard who had a pupil in a plane,
had glided to the water, swan TO the
| wreckage, but his efforts to olsen
gage his comrade were unavailing,
as were those of the speed boat crew.
1t was necessary to bring up the
| floating derrick and lift the entire
mass out of the water before the re-
mains could be recovered. They had
been under water for forty-fve min
utes. but the pulmotOr was applied
at the aeronautical station hospital;
life, however, was extinct.
Aviation His Ambition.
Ensign Van Kirk was only twenty
one years old. One report is that he
was from Washington, y. c., the
other than he was from a New Eng
land state, but veriicatiOn could not
be obtained. He was a minister's son,
and it is said that his bOyish ambition
was to be an exhibition flyer. With
out possessing the funds TO take the
course at one Of the regular schools,
however, he joined the naval militia
which corresponds to the national
guard-in the hope Of getting into
the airplane corps. He came to Pen
sacola in December, and was an en-
thusiastic student. During his short
stay here he made many friends He
was not married.
Aviation Accidents.
The following is the list of airplane
accidents that occurred during the
past year, not including, Of course,
those Of the nations at war:
w. G. Robinson, an aviator. was
killed at Grinnell, Iowa, March II,
when a biplane in which he was try
ing for an altitude record fell from
height Of 10000 feet.
In attempting. to flv from the
Washington nav yard TO Norfolk,
, the Curtiss hydro-aeroplane which
> made a record, May 8, fell into the
Z Potomac, May II, near Bryans Point,
p Md, resuItinr in the loss Of two
I lives and serious injuries Of J. G.
e MacCauley, the pilot, and two other
t / passengers.
- Lieut.. James y. ttOCkWGI was
< killed May "a, at Pensacola, Florida,
$ when a navy aeroplane fell about $50
q feet into the water.
It Lieutenant Richard Caswell Sauf-
ley, naval aviator and holder Of
/ worlds records. was killed at Pensa-
/. cola, Florida, June .. when his ma
S chine fell on Santa Rosa Island.
e Charles F. Miles, whose daring as
g an aviator won him the nickname
e Of "Do Anything" died at Oshkosh
I Wis, June 26, from injuries received
the day before, when he fell while
looming the loop.
Two Swedish flight lieutenants,
Mannstroem and Krus, were. killed
: July q while engaged in a flight
Q Their machine fell from a height of
three hundred feet.
While looping the loop" in ar
q aerial flight at La Plata, Argentina
= Oct. II, a psraguayan aviator named
n Pettirossi fell to the ground and was
s killed.
o Joe Bouquet, exposition aviator
d lost control Of his aeroplane and fel
y 800 feet to instant death at San
eI Diego, Cal, Nov. 4. With smoke