The Washington herald., 1921-06-05
Heavy Toll Amid Aviators.

dents, one near Morgantown, Nd, on May z6
and the other at the Aberdeen, Nd, army
proving grounds last Tuesday.
The first fatal affair involved the fall ofa great
Curtiss Army Hospital plane In thunderstorm and
the exact Circumstances Of the tragedy must re-
main a mystery all seven occupants were killed
The second not properly acronautic calamity, but
serving to show the. dangers still existing in con-
nection with military aviation, was the explosion of
a so-pomd T. N. T. bomb which fell from its po-
sition the underframe of battle plane prior to
flight l..,-.... ......
The air ambulance experimental flight
In the cockpit were the following officers and ci-
villains: Lieut. Col. Archie Miller, world war ace and
medal of honor man; Lieut. Stanley. NJ Ames, the
pilot; Lieut. Cleveland w. McDermott, Sergt,. Blum
enlrantz, mechanic: Maurice Connolly, formerly
representative from Iowa and sales manager for the
Curtiss company, and A G. Bstchedcr, chairman Of
the executive board of the American Automobile
association. .>
Three days later came the Aberdeen explosion.
killing or mortally injurng group composed of
Privates Allen w. Sherner, E.. H. Grinne and L.. S.
Hite and Corp. R. F. Dohle, of the I4h, squad
ron, and Robert NJ Herr civilian employed at the
proving grounds. At the fine three officers
and seven were badly injured by fragments Of
the powerful bomb fa E, y
7 the case Of the Morgantown disaster pilot and
occupants exonerated from blame the ac- (
cident being held to nave Deem unavoidable. a
board of inquiry Immediately appointed in the
Aberdeen explosion Army are inclined to at
tribute both affairs to the often maIign fate seeming
to hang aviation development.
The majority of the victims of the two accidents
were buried with full military honors in Arlington
National cemetery, where Monday $1,000 persons
gathered to do honor to the memories of those other
legions who died in the service.
An epidemic of aviation accidents seemed sudden
ly to occur. Several other flers narrowly escaped
death in the same violent storm which brought down
the Curtiss Eagle. On May ~ at Milwaukee, Wis.,
IA spectators were injured when fair ground stunt"
involving the shifting of from an arplane 10
automobile went wrong. At San Diego Cal an
officer of the naval flying corps was fatally
injured and his mechanic seriously hurt in seaplane
crash.
With dramatic force which was not fully appre-
ciated until later, Eddie Rckenbacker Americas pre-
mier arman, landed Saturday evening at Boiling
field in the midst of the same storm that brought
death to Lieut. Ames and his companions, then not
so miles distant. Rickenbacker had completed a
transcontinental flight during which he too came
close to being killed. He negotiated the more than
5000 miles in 26 flying hours, utilizing six planes in
the trip ... .. '
Rickenbacker was banqueted at the very hour
when the seven lay dead in the ruins Of the ambu-
lance plane.
OF the seven killed in the crash near Morganown five
carried war risk insurance of $4,000 each Col c. r
Forbes director of the bureau announced last week that
payments in the had already been approved and that
checks under way
Col Forbes stated that in addition to the insurance in
asmuch the army authorities had determined that the
avatorS met their deaths in line Of duty compens alton
would be payable to the dependents of the deceased
River transportation in Colombia during the dry
season il made difficult by the need of dredging d
the MapdaIena /