Evening star., 1921-05-30
SEVEN MEN KILLED
AS GIANT A|RPLANE
CRASHES IN STORM
Four Army Officers, Sergeant.
Former Representative and
Automobile Official Die.
EVERY SOUL IN MACHINE
DEAD WHEN AID ARRIVES
U, $. Begins Investigation-Air
Pocket Blamed fer Wreck Near
Morgantown, Md.

M0rgantoWn, Md.
Probably the most frightful scci-
dent in the history OF the Army air
service occurred early Saturday night,
when a large hospital plane crashed
10 the ground about a mile north
west OF Morgantown. Nd. Seven peo-
pie. every soul in the machine. lay
dead. tangled mass of flesh and
bones, when help reached them
The dead are:
Lieut.. Stanley NJ. Ames, attached %
| Boiling Field. pilot of the plane.
! y, u at.helder. chairman of the
executive committee of the American
Automobile Association here
Former Representative Maurice Con-
noliy or Iowa, now sales manager of
the Curtiss Airplane Company and a
major i'll the Army Reserve Corps
Lieut. Col. Archie Miller. attached
! to Army War college
Lieut.. cleveland w McDermott.
Langley Field, Va.
Lieut.; John ". Pennywell. Lang
serst. Mechanic Richard Blumen-
franz OF 3c43 NJ street northwest. tbs
city.
Army Board Appointed.
Maj. NJ F. Scanlon United States
Army. commandaat Of Bo ling Field
has appointed a board to meet and
investigate the accident. This board
is composed Of Capt. w. e. Ocker
Lieut.. l.. NJ Wolf and Lieut. p C.
Williams. all attached 10 Boiling Field.
While the board has held a prelim-
mary investigation of the accident.
and Lieut.. Wilkins has visited the
/ scene. the formal report Of its find-
ings will not be made until after an
other meeting planned for this after
noon.
Lieut.. wilkins was the first to reach
the scene of the accident. Owing to
the inaccessibility of the field III
which the crash occurred he did not
arrive there until 3 o'clock yesterday
morning. To reach the place il is
necessary to go by automobile to Nor
! gantown and then take a boat across
small stream there in order to reach
| the scene OF the accident
Bodies Piled on Engine.
When the officer reached the scene
the seven bodies were st:ll where they
| fell, filed on the engine, almost un-
recognizable In severa! Instances the
heads OF the victims were crushed,
and in the case of the sergeant the
entire upper portion of his face above
the jaws was carried away.
AS all OF the passengers in the car
were killed what happened in the
death plane just previous to the crash
will never be known. 1t is the theory
| of Lieut. wilkins that the plane ran
| into an air bump and the wings
| crushed. He talked with Lieut.. Hin
herman. a naval officer. attached to
| the naval station at Dahlgren. Nd.
! just below Indian Head. and who in
formed him that he saw the plane
when it fell
Seemed to Culver and Drop.
Lieut.. Zimmerman explained sc-
cordihg to Lieut.. wilkins. that the
plane was over an open field. with a
large clump of trees ahead. 1t seemed
| to rise bit to clear the trees. which
it did and then it seemed to quivver
and drop. There was severe cleo
trical storm al the time.
Not for away from this accident
another Army plane. German FOX
ker. which was being driven by Capt.
r. s. Wright. attached to Boiling
Field, and to which he was fyirC
from Langley Field. crashed to the
grown and was wrecksr. Cap.
Wright suffered a broken nose and a
number of other injuries.
1t was explained that the Pilots
CT uld not see ahead of them during
the storm more than 15o feet. Capt.
Wright'S plane crashed while he was
attempting 70 make landing. and it
| is the theory now taat the hospital
plane was also attempting 10 neco-
tate a landing at the time or the ac-
! cident.
Plane Systematically Perfect.
! The plane itself. officers at the
! field exnIaincd was mechanically per
feet in every way. While ii had a
very large wing spread, 1t was also
explained by the aero experts that
this was a help and not a hindrance.
1t was equipped with one 40o-horse-
power Liberty motor.
Lieut.. Ames. the pilot OF the hos
pitai plane, was chief test pilot a,
ha
among the best flyers in the Army.
/ Many of the officers today said that
there was not better air pilot n
! the Army. and that the accident could
not have been due TO any error OK
judgment on his part.
In the case of the German Fckker,
Capt. Wright. the latter officer ex-
planned to the officers at the Boiling
, Field. that when he ran into the
| storm. he turned, and attempted to
another storm. with the two closing
in on him.
Built to Garry Litters.
The hospital plane was built to
transport four people on litters, but
these had been removed for the trip
to Langley Field, where the pas
sengers went to participate in re-
view of the Army bombers which are
to take part in the assault on battle
ships off the coast in June and July.
1t is the belief of officers who wen.
to the scene of the wreck that the re-
bounding of the heavy engine was res
sponsible for the death Of every one
! in the machine. When the plane fell
according to those who went to the
spot. the engine did not imbed itself
in the ground. but from its position
when examined, it seemed that il
rolled back into the fuselage, crush
ing the life out of every one in the
path.
Bodies Brought Here.
The bodies yesterday were removed.
from the scene of the accident. trans
ported to Morgantown by boat. and
thence by truck to the Walter Reed
Hospital here. The effects of the
dead people were returned to Boiling
Field Practically all of the property.
which included handbags and wear
ing apparel, was torn to bits.
A pail hung over the air station to-
day, and the colors at the post head
quarters flew at half mast to a light
breeze. All of the officers and men
spoke in the highest terms of Lieut.
Ames. the pilot, both as an officer and
a man.
Left Langley Field NJ 4;3o.
The hospital plane left Langley Field
at 4:So o'clock Saturday afternoon.