Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1926-09-22
DIANE CRUMPLES
Continued from Page One)

r.rtain Fonck and his three intrepid
,n.n,ons on a $500 mile fight
.-oss the Atlantic ended in tragedy
won the monster airplane. carrying
rscord weight of $4,000 pounds. was
liable to lift itself from the ground
I'D crashed over an embankment on
roosevelt field.
There was an instant fare of
..mes and black clouds of smoke bill
,,red to the sky. Trapped inside the
.,,in of the plane, Clavier and Islam
~ nerished almost instantly.
More than 1000 persons who had
.heered the fliers two minutes before.
.tood helplessly by. awe-struck, I'M
sh,e even to attempt a rescue of the
.uo trapped men, while the $500 gal
,,,s Of gasoline in the planes huge
tanks burned fiercely.
More than 100000 had been spent
4, building in the superplane and
America and France were to have
ssared in the laurels, had its flight
Sasn successful. a slightly unfavor-
sble wind was conceded to have ham
s;canped the heavily weighted hi
uiane in its attempted take-off, but
urecking of the planes rear landing
lars when It passed over rough
mot near the end of the runway was
sscribed as the immediate cause.
Enable because of this drag to ac-
,elerate Its speed beyond this point
sufficient to lift into the air. the
oIane diyed over IS foot embank-
lent beyond the runway. plunged a
distance of about 100 yards and then
The plane had attained a speed of
.hort 65 miles an hour before the
n,ishap. There was never a chance
for HE two men in the cabin to save
heir lives. Captain Fonck and
lieutenant Curtin were imperilled by
the three great propellers that con-
tinued to whirl after the crash.
Gasoline from the shattered tanks
caught fire Immediately. BY the time
snectators had arrived on the scene
flames we're leaping so feet in the
air
Bv the time ambulances and fire.
men from Westbury arrived, the BIZ
rlane was a crumpled skeleton.
Igor Sikorsky, who had hoped the
,lane would be the realization of his
goal after IS years of designing air
craft, sped in an automobile to the
scene of the crash, saw that all was
bonelesslv lost. and then hurried
syav to his home, overwhelmed by
the disaster.
Generating all participants from
blame in the crash, officials of the
sikorsky Aero Engineering Corpora
lion. declared today's disaster would
not prevent attempts to make an
other nonstop fight from New York
to Paris.
An inquest will be held Friday
over the bodies of the two victims.
Oral statements were made to the
coroner of Hampstead township,
where the accident occurred, by Cap
tain Fonck and Lieutenant Curtin
soon after the crash, but they were
not detained. on their agreement to
appear for the inquest.
Lieutenant Curtin, in a statement
shortly after the accident. attributed
the fire 10 live gas thrown over the
still hot exhaust pipe.
Captain Fonck suffered slight
scratch on the cheek, but Lieutenant
Curtin escaped without mark. Both
men said they were stunned by the
impact of the crash and that events
from the time they began scrambling
from the pilots cockpit were blurred in
their memories.
The hop-off had been considered by
the sponsors of the flight as the great
est test the huge plane would meet
during the entire f1ight, because Of its
enormous weight. 1t had been planned
10 drop the rear landing gear. the
wreckins of which was major factor
in the crash, after the plane had at
tanned sufficient height
Cheerful and confident. the four
fiers had climbed into the cabin of
the plane just at dawn. A slightly
overcast sky lay over the field but the
four men were undaunted by the local
weather.
Lieutenant Curtin was especially OPP
timistic when he left the hangar this
morning for the plane. carrying a roll
OF maps and weather charts.
Wen be in Paris in 81 hours" he
said smiling as though he were mere
ly going for a walk Ten minutes lat
er he had escaped death by the mar
rowest margin.
The Raymond Orteig $4,000 prize
for the first nonstop sirp1ane fight
between New york and Paris was the