The Washington herald., 1921-05-30
Five Army Officers and
Two Civilians in
List of Dead.
AERO FORCED DOWN
NEAR MORGANTOWN
Victims Were Returnine
From Langley to Boil
ling Field.

District. passengers in the huge
Curtiss hospital sirplane Of Boiling
field. were plunged 20 death whet
the giant plane crashed to earth
during terrific electrical storm
late Saturday near Mor.sntown. Nd
The story Of the seven passen.
gers, FIVE OF whom were army OF.
hcers and two Of whom were civ.
ilians, will never be told. Non'
survived when the machine crum
pied and fell near Mor-antown
Nd, 80 miles from Indianheac
proving grounds on the Potomas
river, in one Of the army's creates
peace-time airplane tragedies
Former Representative In List.
The dead:
Lieut.. Col Archie Miller. recen.
graduate OF the wsr college. meda
Of honor man. and an ace in tht
war
Lieut.. Stanley NJ Auscs. rated asG
crack pilot" N lhe army.
Lieut.. Cleveland " McD4rno.t
army hier at Langley field.
SerEt. Blum"nkranz. a mechanh
at Boiling field.
Maurice Connolly. former -rcpre.
- ntative from Iowa a major in IN,
reserve corps. and sales manager -;
the Curtiss Airplane company.
A. C. Batchelder chairman Of thu
executive beard OF the American Al
tomobile association.
A strong electrical storm. whisi
uprooted trees caused the accident
when a heavy dfS-e ndinE current oi
air forced the sirshIp TO make ar
.ll-timed landing.
Bodies Pound in Cockpit.
Visitors to the scene said the nose
Of the plane was rammed seven feet
into the ground. and that IL wai
shattered into a tangled mass o.
wrecksEe.
Huddled in the cockpit were the
bodies OF the seven victims. torn anc
manEled until identification was diff
fiCult. The plane. in the opinion Of
Brig. Gen. William :. Mitchell. as
sistant chief Of the air service. anc
other aviation officers, fell about loo
feet, hut. driven by the wind,
crashed with tremendous impact
A few persons saw the plane
hurtle downward. but were so fai
away they were unable to give de-
tailed accounts Of what happened
As nearly as can be asCertsined
the plane was seeking a landing
over an open field.
Members Of the crew of the Dol
phin. a naval cutter At lndianheaa
were first on the Scene. At frsl
they found only three bodies. hui
later the other four were Located
| in the wreckaEe
Denies Pilot Nns nj Fault.
Mai. NJ r. ScanIon. commandan
Of Boiling field. emphstically denied
that the accident was a result a.
nervousness on the part Of the pilot
Lieut. STANLEY Ames.
Lieut.. Ames was. the best pho
at Boiling field. as he tested al
Of our neWly assembled planes" h'
said
The plane crashed at s:c5 =. m
4 watch worn by Mai. Connolly
found on his splintered arm. stop.
ped az the time the plane hit the
| ground. according TO Mai. Scanlon
The colossal Eagle sirshtp LET
Rolling held saturday morning a
1880. accompanied by three planes
occrrpied nv Gen. William Mitchell
Capt. Burdette Wright, Capt Will
lam c. Ockcr. respectively, and fieW
Ito Langley field, where the al
| forces ar making preparations ioI
the coming rontrsts with he navy
Forced Down by storm.
Leaving Langley field at 4:3e y
m. the CurtiSs machine arrived near
Morrantown when a sharp electrics.
storm forced il TO the ground, nost
down.
News Of the accident reached
! Boiling field about IL n. m. Sstur.
| day and a hurried trip to Nor
gantown was made by Lieut.. Fau
c. wilkens. accompanied by two
enlisted men.
Army fiers were Of the opinion
that one Of two things happened
to the hospital ship. They safe
| il either encountered an air bump
! throwing il into a 'side-sliP." 81
a spin. from which il could no.
right itself. or that il struck an
obstruction OF some sort. The heavy
rain. they explained. would fore,
the machine to fly low in search
Of a landing place. from which po-
sition II would be dificult TO d.
rect. The machine was unusuany
large. they explained. to carry
single engine. II was equipped with
one Liberty motor.
Two Planes Arrive safely.
General Mitchell. assistant chiei
of the air service. and Captain Ocker
who returned from Langley feld a.
the same time as the hospital shin
ran head into the storm as they were
crossing the Potomac. and by skirt
ing IL succeeded in reaching Boiling
field in safety. Ocker described the
storm as one Of great intensity. ano
said the air currents were such that
| they resembled miniature cyclones
making the planes exceedingly Diff
| hcult TO handle.
Wrieht's Plane Wrecked.
Capt. Burdett S. Wright. aide tc
BriG. Gen. Mitchell. assistant cnsef
of the air service, also crashed &c
the ground during the storm. He
was riding in a small single seated
machine, following the hospital ship.
when he was caught by a gust Of
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