Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1921-05-30
INVESTIGATION
EORDEREDBY !.
ARMY OFFICIALS
Every Passenger Killed And
Inquiry Depends On
Eye Witnesses.
Five Army Officer. And Two
Prominent Civilians
Among Dead.


ficials were preparing today for an
official investigation of the crash dur
ing a storm last Saturday, near In
dianhead, Maryland, Of the ambu-
lance airplane in which seven men,
five army officers and two civilians.
met death: The fact that every oc-
cupant Of the machine was killed.
quiry to depend largely on the obser-
vations ofadistant eye witnesses in
forming its conclusions, made it ap-
pear doubtful that the exact cause
Of the disaster could be developed. Il
The plane. Curtiss Eagle, which
had been divested Of it's ambulance
equipment, was making a, return flight
ingtOn when it encountered a severe
electrical storm accompanied by winds
estimated to be blowing at a hundred
miles velocity. ~
Wind Too Strong.
Eye witnesses said that the plane,
unable to make headway in the wind,
descended apparently in an attempt
to land, but after dropping to within
about 100 feet Of the ground. APP
preached a cluhnp Of trees and
swerved upward. The trees were
cleared, but as the plane started for
an open field nearby it was seen to
SAS~seS'
20 the earth ''',s' s .
Those who reached the wreck first
found all seven men dead All the
&Apod dies gwere closely grouped together.
HSnma badly mutiiated byBthe engine
hich had been torn. from itz bed and
Ehrown backward. cutting the yE,en
4 down like scythe. as IT, ploiisshed
F%nartme1lt. A watch later found &iiAd
stopped 6 :25 sb.oinck, showing the
who Waved 4ke Wrsse r vi ekakassasd nc was
!, the worst they had ever seen and
were atFa loss to understand how 1t
could have resulted from such a
short fall. ~ /. I,
l,roninent Men victims :.
Several officers killed wore decor
&ations for service in the world war
and both of the civilians were widely
onel Archie Miller served in the
Spanish American Philippine insur
rection. where he won the congress
sional medal Of honor, and in the
world war. He at one time was in
command Of Mitchell field. Long
Island. Lieutenant Stanley M. Ames.
q who had been married only about
adian and American overseas forces
/ and suffered severe bayonet wound
with the Canadians. He was regarded
as an expert pilot as we'll as an au-
thority on aero-engineering.F Both
made their home in Washington.
Lieut.. w. c. McDermot, whose
home was in Syracuse, N. Y, was
stationed at Langley field. He served
in both the Canadian and American
flying forces and was decorated BY
both governments for valor in the
world war. He was officially credited
with bringing down two German
planes. Lieutenant John M: Penne
will was stationed at Langley field
Sergeant Richard Blumenkranz. al
expert mechanic, was stationed a
Boiling field here.
Maurice Connolly Of the civilians, {
native OF Dubuque, Iowa, sales man
ager of the Curtiss .Aeroplane com
pany, was former congressman ant
he served in the air service durint
the war with the rank of major.
A. G. Batchelder, the other civilial
killed, was former newspaper maj
and one of the organizers OF tn
American Automobile association ant
chairman of it's board of directors. HI
was native Of Attica, N. 7.
The bodies were brought TO Wash
ington and taken to Walter Rees
hospital.
Other machines returning from tn
Langley field maneuvers were caugh
in the storm. 5.5a,is ,..
Captain 3. s. Wright, flying
Fokker machine was caught in tn
wind and forced down. In attempt
ing to land his plane crashed but h
escaped with only bad shaking III
and bruises, although his craft wa
completely wrecked.