The New York herald., 1921-06-24
% DIE in PROVING
ships ARE HELPLESS
IN AN AIR ATTACK
Fatalities in Recent Bomb
ing Trials Will Not Halt
Experiments.
1O3 AIRCRAFT LINE UP
Largest Number Ever Gath
cred in U. S. Ready for
More Experiments.
TO USE 1850 LIB. BOMBS
- AviatOrs Strew Flowers on
Ocean as Tribute to Their
Drowned Comrades.
TO USE 1850 LIB. BOMBS

Special Despatch to THE New YORK HERALD.
LANGLEY FIELD. Va, June 23.-With
the death list already at twenty-five,
resulting directly or indirectly from
the recent bombing tests the army
fiers here at Langley Field are un-
davptec tonight in their determina-
ton to prove their assertion that air
craft is supreme as q military weapon.
The twenty-five deaths in the bomb
ing experiments of the army have been
exclusive of other crashes in which no
lives were lost. They include the kill
ing of seven officers and men at Aber-
deem, where bombs were being tried
out by fiiers, and the loss Of four Off
GERS, a noncommissioned officer and
two civilians in the crash Of the Eagle
hospital ship near Indian Head, Md,
after a demonstration at Langley
Field. The other accidents occurred
at or near the field.
The army air forces now arrayed,
presenting the largest group Of fight
ing airplanes ever concentrated in
America, paused only for a few hours
in their work because Of the death Of
two of the best pilots Of the service,
Capt. Howard Douglas and Lieut.. M.
J. Plumb, who were lost in Chesapeake
Bay yesterday when their airplanes
were in collision during a sham battle
over the wreck Of the old cruiser San
Marcos.
Divers. working all day at the scene.
recovered tonight the body of Lieut..
Plumb and brought to the surface the
wreckage of the two single scatter air
planes which crashed. The body Of
Capt. Douglas could not be found and
the divers gave up the search.
IL Filters Strew Flowers ON Sea.
The finding of Lieut. Plumb's body
in sixty feet of water. followed an un-
usual ceremony in which Brighten.
Mitchell. Assistant Chief of the Army
Air Service. followed by eleven flierB
in single scatter planes, went sixty-five
miles to the scene of the accident and
strewed flowers on the water. They
also fired a salute consisting Of three
volleys of twenty-five pound bombs.
The first three fliers, including Gen.
Mitchell, carried the flowers. while the
following nine. three abreast. dropped
bombs as they came along. Never be-
fore have circumstances called sor
tribute of this character.
III 80 7
and the wreckage OF the airplanes dis
posed OF the original suppositior that
q 800 pound bomb had been dropped by
accident by third flier. While such
bombs had been dropped in the gen.
eral vicinity. none. 1t was evident. came
near the spot where Douglas and Plumb
fell.
The investigation developed that the
two airplanes ran together by accident,
wrecking the wings OF both. so that
they crashed to the water about 300
feet below, sinking almost Immediately
Only two other fliers saw the accident
and their reports vary considerably.
One said that the planes ran together
at an angle of 45 degrees. while the
other said they sidewiped while going
In exactly the same direction.
Dance at omccrs Club.
To shake off the effect of the accident.
which Is but one OF long series con-
nected with the bombing tests in recent
weeks, the flag at the post remained
at half staff only twenty-four hours and
there was a dance tonight at the Of
fcers Club. The fiiers are centring
themselves, under the direction of Gen.
Mitchell. who is at the post, on a single
line of thought, that OF obtaining recog-
milton of what they believe is the supe-
riority of aviation as a means Of national
defence.
Orders from Washington within the
last week or ten days. following the
brush between Gen. Menoher. Chief of
the Army Air Service. and Gen. Mitchell,
Assistant Chief, have had the effec. of
preventing all the army fiiers from talk
ing to any newspaper men. A sag rule
has been applied, so that the officers
may not even comment on the results
of the sinking Of the German submarine
U-117 by navy air attack on Tuesday
and the operations of the Atlantic Fleet
off the Virginia Capes.
There was no concealing the fact.
however. that the army fiiers considered
the first phase of the experiments
feather in the cap of aviation. They
took pride In calling attention TO the
fact that the U-l17 went down in less
than sixteen minutes after twelve bombs
had been dropped on her, while the best
the destroyers could do was TO sink a
smaller submarine. the U-14S, with forty
shots in twenty-four minutes.
On the line to-day at Langley Field
Continued on Sirth Pooc.