Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-05-30
| KILLED AS GALE !
WRECKS A|RpLANE.
Board Of Inquiry Handle caon.a
by Fact That No One
Survived
WORST AIR DISASTER IN u.s

washington, May 3O.--Arr
are preparing to investigate i, omcers
during wild gale Saturdav r,as luz crash
Indian Head, Md. of tbS n,snt near
airplane in which seven "moulance
death. WV c'iiians-met
AS every occupant of tba
was killed the Board of Jnn,,.n nachine
depend largely on distant eve. w;igr muw
making 1t appear doubtful tba,
be developed. could ever
Inc machine--a big Curtiss. n.
nodei-was torn and twisted almost Isle ~
yond recognition. Army ofic;ais oe.
learned OF the accident yesterdar wac
u was the worst airplane d;sast, SAD
American history. '''er IN
List of the Dead
The dead are:
Lieutenant Colonel Archie ,,,u..
Air Service. General staff co,,ac'
washington, one Of the most nron,ins.
men In the aviation branch of Tho nrn' arnn
Maurice Connolly. formerly a non,h..
OF Congress from Iowa, major IN ~.
Air Service during the war, and a, ~ .s
time of his death sales manager ~ NV Nv
Curtiss Airplane Company. u 'u'
A. g.. Batchelder. oreonizsr -,
chairman Of the Executive Po..a nau
American Automobile Association a,u Nv
formerly editor of Motor. Washinptn~n' ~'
Second Lieutenant Stanley M. Ann.
Of Boiling Field, Washington, pilot y
the plane. '' "
Second Lieutenant CLEVELAND ~
McDermott, of Langley Field, Va. -
Second Lieutenant John NJ. PENN.
well. of Langley Field, Va.
Sergeant Richard Blumenkranz
mechanic in the Army Air Service A.
Boiling Field. =
Driven Seven Feet Into Earth
The plane had been divested of Ne
ambulance equipment and was making
a return flight from Langley Field, Va.
to Washington when it encountered :
severe electrical storm accompanied Nv
winds estimated to be blowing at =
hundred miles velocity.
Eye witnesses said the plane un,h,o
to make headway in the face of the
wind, descended apparently in an M.
tempt to make a landing, bur afte,
dropping to within about 100 feet AZ
the ground approached a clump of trees
and swerved upward. The trees were
cleared but as the plane started for an
open field nearby it was seen to culver.
turn over and dive vertically, buryinr
its nose seven feet in the ground.
Those who reached the wreck first
found oil seven men dead. The bodies
were closely grouped together, some
badly mutilated by the engine, which
had been torn from it's bed and thrown
backward, cutting the men down like
scythe as 1t plowed through the mar.
row passenger compartment of the
plane. A watch had stopped at 6:I
o'clock, showing the exact time Of the
tragedy.
Other Filters More Fortunate
Other machines returning from the
Langley field maneuvers were caught
in the same storm that sent the Biz
ambulance plane down and several
fliers narrowly escaped death. One Of
these was Brigadier General William
Mitchell, assistant chief of the Army
Air Service, who finally bested the ele.
ments, and escaped the storm area by
going miles out of his course before
landing at Boiling Field.
Representative Walsh, Of Massachu-
setts, and Representative Campbell. Of
Kansas, and Guy De Lavergne, French
aviation attache, were passengers on the
i'll fated ambulance plane on its trip
out, which was made along the Potomac
Wearied by the fight, which was
for the purpose of witnessing the re.
view of the army air brigade Of some
sixty planes at Langley Field. the two
Congressman and the French officer de.
cided to return from Norfolk by boat,
and thus barely missed death.