Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-09-14
CAUSE OF PLANE
CRASH IS STUDIED
Collapse of StabiIizer Be-
Iieved to Have Brought
Fall Killing Norton.

a board of investigation is sitting
at the Naval Air Station. Anacostia,
today, inquiring into the tragic death
Yesterday afternoon of Lieut.. Harmon
j. Norton, Marine Corps, whose Navy
Curtiss racer, in which he was prac-
ticing for the Schneider seaplane
trophy race at Norfolk next month.
plunged into the mud flats off Hams
Point from an altitude of 1000 feet.
The board is composed of Lieut..
Comdr. d. C. Watson, executive Of
ficer; Lieut.. W. G.. Tomlinson. a
test pilot. and Lieut.. c. D. Palmer.
radio officer. all of the base. Their
findings will be transmitted to the
comma ndant of the Washington Navy
Yard, who in turn will forward them
to the judge advocate general of the
Navy.
In the absence of publication of the
findings, the opinion prevails that the
horizontal stabilizer collapsed. was
torn out of place or that the tail
fipper wires carried away. This lat
ter theory is secuted, however, as
new ones were installed recently. At
any rate it undoubtedly appears that
some vital member in the tail group
failed through no fault of the pilot,
leaving him helpless.
Worked to Save Plane.
But the officer. plunging earthward
at a speed of about 800 miles an hour,
did not give up in the struggle with
death. Witnesses declare that with
his tail controls useless. he did not
become panic stricken and abandon
hope, but worked frantiCallY with his
aileronS, or movable sections on the
wings, to roll the plane out of the
dive that struck terror to the hearts
of observers. And this he succeeded
in doing to a certain extent. The
plane, instead of plunging into the
mud flats nose first and disappearing
from sight, fell on its side, smashed
to splinters and crushed the body of
its pilot, bringing instant death.
First reports declared Lieut.. Norton
'1ost control" of the plane and this
statement drew instant disclaimers
from his bereaved comrades of the
air. THE plane that Norton could not
handle has not yet been built" they
declared, adding that Structural fail
ure and not tricky characteristics is
the only thing that could whip him.
Although the plane was pronounc
ed sound by the naval aircraft fac
tory at Philadelphia, where it had
been in storage for the past year,
and was declared to be airworthy
when turned over to Lieut.. George T.
Cuddihy. who flew it to Washington
about three weeks ago in 32 minutes,
there are many persons in Washing
ton with wide aeronautical experience
who held the view that the ship never
should have been flown because of it's
age. Two sterling airmen have lost
their lives in racing planes in the past
three years and this school of thought
has steadfastly held that these tiny.
sensitive craft should not be shot
through the air at tremendous speeds.
which produce stress and strain on the
vital members that are almost unbe-
lievable in their weight and force.
Plane Suddenly Plunged.
Lieut.. Norton, who had made a prac-
tice jump last week, went to the air
station yesterday afternoon for fur
ther trials. He had made several
trips up and down a speed course, laid
out along the river. and after passing
north on Boiling Field, he went into
a climbing turn from about 500 feet
flew around the smoke stacks at the
navy yard, and ended up at an alti-
tude of about 1.50O feet.
Then he flew back toward the sta
tion over the river with throttled en-
Elne, tufnen AT FialnS POlnt ana went
UP the river toward Highway Bridge
! He saw two Army pursuit planes
coming in from the West md started
climbing 500 feet higher. turning
slowly at the same time. To those on
! the ground it looked as though he
wanted TO get behind them and then
pull up alongside. He completed his
turn and he followed in their wake
at slow speed and in level flight the
| nose suddenly plunged downward YER
tically.
Airmen on the ground knew that
Norton had but few seconds to live
At lightning speed the plane headed
for the earth. then fell into a half out
side loop while the plucky airma n
worked frantically with the ailerons
to roll it with the hope of breaking
the speed. getting it out of the dive
and, perhaps. luckily crashing with
serious injuries at the most.
Lieut.. Norton could not carry a
parachute because of the construction
of the plane. The opening into the
cockpit is so small that pilots are
Continued on Page 2, Column 81