100 years ago today

Barrett · 17 September 2008, 11:24 AM

Worth remembering that 100 years ago today Thomas Selfridge was killed at Ft. Myer in the crash of the 1908 military Flyer...Orville was seriously injured. . .

shackleton · 17 September 2008, 01:56 PM

Fatal fall of Wright airshipWhen Orville Wright came to Fort Myer to demonstrate the Wright Flyer for the US Army, Selfridge arranged to be a passenger while Orville piloted the craft. On September 17, 1908, the Wright Flyer circled Fort Myer 4½ times at 150 feet (46 m). Halfway through the fifth circuit, the right propeller broke, losing thrust. This set up a vibration, causing the split propeller to hit a guy wire bracing the rear vertical rudder. The wire tore out of its fastening and shattered the propeller; the rudder swiveled to the horizontal and sent the Flyer into a nose-dive. Orville shut off the engine and managed to glide to about 75 feet(23 m), but the Flyer hit the ground nose first.[2]

Orville later described the accident that killed Selfridge in a letter to his brother, Wilbur:

On the fourth round, everything seemingly working much better and smoother than any former flight, I started on a larger circuit with less abrupt turns. It was on the very first slow turn that the trouble began. ... A hurried glance behind revealed nothing wrong, but I decided to shut off the power and descend as soon as the machine could be faced in a direction where a landing could be made. This decision was hardly reached, in fact I suppose it was not over two or three seconds from the time the first taps were heard, until two big thumps, which gave the machine a terrible shaking, showed that something had broken. ... The machine suddenly turned to the right and I immediately shut off the power. Quick as a flash, the machine turned down in front and started straight for the ground. Our course for 50 feet (15 meters) was within a very few degrees of the perpendicular. Lt. Selfridge up to this time had not uttered a word, though he took a hasty glance behind when the propeller broke and turned once or twice to look into my face, evidently to see what I thought of the situation. But when the machine turned head first for the ground, he exclaimed 'Oh! Oh!' in an almost inaudible voice.

When the craft hit the ground, both Selfridge and Wright were thrown against the remaining wires. Selfridge was thrown against one of the wooden uprights of the framework and his skull was fractured. He underwent neurosurgery but died that evening without regaining consciousness. He was 26. Orville suffered severe injuries, including a broken left thigh, several broken ribs and a damaged hip, and was hospitalized for seven weeks. Selfridge wasn't wearing any headgear while Wright was only wearing a cap, as two existing photographs taken before the flight prove. If Selfridge had been wearing a helmet of some sort he most likely would have survived the crash. As a result of Selfridge's death the US Army's first pilots wore large heavy headgear reminiscient of early football helmets.

Thomas Selfridge was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Section 3, Lot 2158, Grid QR-13/14.[3

Barrett · 17 September 2008, 02:01 PM

Shackleton, thank you for passing that along.

It's probably unknowable, but I wonder how many people have died in aircraft accidents in the last 100 years.

SCMc · 17 September 2008, 04:53 PM

Hi Barrett,

Another question is how many did not die, because they wore helmets.

Steve

Barrett · 17 September 2008, 05:40 PM

My guess: very few. It doesn't apply to the huge number of aviation fatalities, which are airline and commercial/private passengers.

shackleton · 18 September 2008, 02:30 AM

An interesting question. I don't think the old leather flying helmets gave much protection on the event of a crash although perhaps they reduced burn injuries. Padding to protect the face might have reduced facial injuries such as the famous 'brisfit' nose seen on many old pilots after heavy landings in a Bristol fighter and other old open cockpit aircraft. I believe the modern 'bone dome' helmets were introduced for service pilots so that ejections could take place through the perspex cockpit hood if necessary.

Bulldog90 · 20 September 2008, 08:42 AM

They were doing neurosurgery back then?

Bulldog 90

shackleton · 20 September 2008, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bulldog90

They were doing neurosurgery back then?

Bulldog 90

Not what we usually mean by neurosurgery.

Often a head injury causes a swelling inside the skull that compresses the brain. An operation may be necessary to relieve this pressure. Some skull fractures depress part of the skull and they may need to be relieved. I think both of those techniques were well established then.

Incidentally some neolithic skulls over 10,000 years old show signs of trepanning operations - the drilling or cutting of a hole into the skull - and healing afterwards suggesting that the patient (or possibly the victim) recovered afterwards.