Evening star., 1926-09-01
LIEUT.. BETT|S DIES
OF CRASH INJURIES
Noted Army Anman Loses
Fight for Life-Was Lost
43 Hours in Mountains.

Lieut.. Cyrus K. Belts, noted Army
aviator. to escape the hands Of death.
which reached out for him through
q fog in the Pennsylvania mountains
August %. ended in defeat for the
airman at Walter Reed Hospital al
9:05 o'clock this morning.
The courageous pilot died from
meningitis. which set In YESTERDAY
and caused a turn for the worse II
his condition. Up to that time hos
pital surgeons felt that he had an eN
ceIlent chance for recovery.
When the change caple yesterda'
morning. Lieut.. Bettis' parents. III
Port Huron, Mich, were notified thai
his condition had become critical.
They are expected to reach Washing
ton some time today, and pendinG
their arrival no arrangements for the
funeral will be made.
On Monday morning, August 70
Lieut.. Bettis, who had COMMANDED "
detail of airplanes from SelfridSf
Field, Mount Clemens, Mich, AT tii-
Sesquicentennial. set out from Phlia
delphia with two other companions
in three Cuftiss P-1 pursuit planes
Lieut.. Bettis disappeared in n f"@
region which has claimed the NE -
more than one excellent pilot.
Missing 43 Hours.
Missing for more than 43 hours. the
airman finally was found on q rodu
side by two workers of the State High
way Commission. His plane, in the
dense fog, had crashed into the Side
Of a mountain. He had lain uncon
scious for an hour and a half In the
wreckage, and then, with a broken leg.
both laws and nose fractured ana
painful cuts and bruises, after wait
ing all night for help. he jumped.
hopped and crawled through the thick
forest of the Seven Sister Mountains
until he reached the highway.
He was taken to the hospltai ~
Rellefonte, and Army surgeons her"
deemed it advisable that he be brought
to Washington Immediately In order
that he could benefit by the facilities
of Walter Reed Hospital. A tram
tourney would he too long and too IN
comfortable, so Douglas transpotl
was sent up and the injured aviator
was flown to the Capital in hour ana
40 minutes.
Examination by physicians at tn"
hospital convinced them that ms con
In iuries were intensely painful. II"
vas given close attention and scores
of his friends here were turned awa\
from the hospital on orders tnat ne
should not be disturbed by visitors.
Lieut.. Rettis was known throughout
the flving services only as "Cy- lie
was uuiet, modest and unassuming on
the ground, but in the air he was a
specta cular and outstanding pilot
For the past four years he had been
a member OF the crack ISL Pursu'
Group at Selfridge Field, flying noth-
ing but the latest high-speed pursuit
planes.
Flew New Racing Craft.
Because Of his thorough experience
with these small, sensitive craft, he was
selected 10 fiy the Army's new CurtiSS
racer III the Pulitzer trophy race at
Mitchell Field last October. Entered
against the veteran racing pilot. Al
Williams of the Navy. who had al
ready one Pulitzer race and the Amer
lean hightspeed record TO his credit
Lieut.. Bettis came in first. with u
speed of 24S99 miles per hour. The
previous year he had beaten the entire
lst Pursuit Group In It's annual
race for the John l.. Mitchell trophy
held at Dayton, at a speed or l''
miles per hour.
Following the 1924 air meet Lieut.
Rettis came to Washington for the
Army Relief aerial show at Boiling
Field. and as the leader of a three
plane pursuit formation carried off
the honors of the day with his spectac-
ular and skillful plotting.
The officer was born in Carsonvilie
L., a n
terins the Army air branch he was
radio and telephone engineer. He en-
listed as a private and received his
| commission as second lieutenant
September II, 1918. Because of his
extraordinary ability. he was retained
| In this country as an instructor ami
did not get overseas Following the
war, he served the usual twO-year de
| tail in the Philippine Islands and from
there was transferred to the pursuit
group.
He. with Lieut. James II. DOolittle
who won the Schneider international
seaplane race last year in the same
plane used in the Pulitzer event. was
awarded the Clarence MaCkay trophy
! for the most meritorious flight during
| 1925. The trophy now Is on exhibition
| in the War Department.
Fourth Death In Month.
Day in and day out since the Sesqui
centennial opened Lieut.. Bettis led a
| formation of pursuit planes which
| dived. rolled, lOoped and spun high
and low over the heads of the exposi-
| ton visitors. Finally he determined
| that the P-1s needed overhauling, and
! it was on the journey to Selfridge
! Field for new planes that the crash
| occurred.
With the death of Lieut.. Belts
both the Army and Navy have lost
one OF their leading airmen within
| a weeks time. Comdr. John Rodgers
died from injuries received in a crash
at Philadelphia last Friday and his
burial at Arlington National Cemetery
Yesterday came at a time when Lieut.
Belts condition was rapidly growing
worse.
Since July 81 the Army and Navy
have been robbed of four outsta nding
airmen. two from each service. The
"cycle" of fatal accidents began with
| the death in Massachusetts Of Lieut..
Howard f. Council of the Bureau OF
Aeronautics and his mechanic, G.. r.
GiddenS Of the naval air station. 4
few days later Lieut.. Eugene Barks
dale Of the Army Air Corps. and rated
as one OF the foremost airmen that
ever lived, lost his life at McCool,
Field, Dayton. Ohio. Then followed