Evening star., 1934-04-06
Graduates of Last Three
Glasses at Kelly Field Sent
to Home Stations.
ORDER FOLLOWS DEATH
OF OFFICER MARCH 30
Survey Reveals Majority of Cas-
ualties Occurred Among
Young Flyers.

Army Air Corps pilots who were
members of the last three graduating
classes from the Advanced Flying
School at Kelly Field, Tex, have been
relieved from airmail duty and sent to
home stations, it was learned today.
This step. which takes out of the
airmail service all Army flyers with
less than l8 months of actual flying
service since leaving school, was taken
as safety precaution after six men,
bers of these three classes had been
killed and at least four injured in
crashing while carrying airmail or on
duty connected with the flying of
airmail.
Orders sending to home stations all
members of the Kelly Field graduat-
ing class Of february "a, 1888, senior
Of the three classes. were issued i'm
mediately following the fatal crash of
Second Lieut.. Thomas A. Wood, a
member Of the class. near De Witt,
Iowa, March 80. Lieut.. Wood was
the twelfth Air Corps airmail flyer
killed. He was the second member of
his class to die in a crash while on
airmaiI service.
Others Are Relieved.
Members of the graduating classes
of June 20, 1888. and February, 1884,
also have been relieved of airmail duty
and sent to home stations, as have
members of the special West
Pointers" class of October IA last
The orders withdrawing the Junior
Air Corps pilots from airmail duty
were disclosed today as a result Of the
death yesterday at Altoona, Pa, Of
Second Lieut.. John L. McAllister, q
member of the Kelly Field class of
February, 1888. McAllister, who had
been on airmail service, it was re-
vealed. had just been relieved of that
duty and sent back to his home sta
ton at Langley Field, Hampton. Va.
He was engaged in the routine ferry
ing" Of an airplane from the Air Corps
depot at Middletown. Pa, when killed.
1t was revealed a month ago in The
Star that IS per cent of Army Air
Corps officers involved in airplane
crashes in connection with the air
mail service were members Of the last
three classes to leave Kelly Field, the
heaviest toll having been taken from
from the class of June last. which lost
three killed and three injured, while
two other members of the class
escaped airmail crashes uninjured.
Veterans Escape Difficulty.
1t has been revealed that very few
OF the Air Corps officers with more
than 18 months of flying experience
have gotten into difficulty while flying
the mail, although many of them. due
to curtailed appropriations, were far
below the minimum flying time pre-
scribed for transport pilots in the
commercial service.
A large majority of the Air Corps
pilots who have been involved in air
mail crashes since the Army started
its preparations for the airmail service
in mid-February were recent gradu-
ates of Kelly Field who were serving
their prescribed year of active duty
in the Air Corps under the reserve
commissions which they received upon
graduation.
They were drawn into the airmail
service when the War Department
called upon the various tactical units
Of the Air Corps for squadrons to be
assigned to airmail flying. Virtually
every tactical squadron in the Army
today contains reserve officers serving
their year Of active duty. Some squad
rons are composed of only sufficient
older officers to lead the squadron and
its flight and to serve as engineering
officer, the flights being composed,
except for the leader. Of graduates of
the last two or three classes from
Kelly Field. This is due to the fact,
it is explained. that older Air Corps
officers are required to operate the
various Air Corps schools and for ad-
ministrative work of the corps. which
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