List of accidents and incidents involving military aircraft before 1925
This is a list of notable accidents and incidents involving military aircraft grouped by the year in which the accident or incident occurred. Not all of the aircraft were in operation at the time. For more exhaustive lists, see the Bureau of Aircraft Accidents Archives or the Aviation Safety Network or the Scramble on-line magazine accident database. Combat losses are not included except for a very few cases denoted by singular circumstances.
Aircraft terminology
Information on aircraft gives the type, and if available, the serial number of the operator in italics, the constructors number, also known as the manufacturer's serial number, exterior codes in apostrophes, nicknames in quotation marks, flight callsign in italics, and operating units.1861
;21 July1895
;4 July1907
;28 May;2 June
;22 June
;30 November
1908
;20 May;17 September
;16 October
1909
;16 May: A French military balloon collides with electric light wires and is destroyed by fire at Paris.;3 September:The French army airship La République sets off from Chalais-Meudon for a flight to Lapalisse. After 62 miles, while over La Charité-sur-Loire, the motor overheats due to poor water circulation and has to be stopped immediately, requiring the crew to land in poor conditions at Policards, in the commune of Jussy-le-Chaudrier. Some local farm workers who are present catch the guide ropes but are unable to prevent the gondola from impaling itself on an apple tree, which damages the airship’s keel and gondola in several places. With this damage and given the loss of a quantity of gas, it is decided not to risk the République suffering the same fate as the Patrie, but to deflate the gas-bag immediately. The gondola and keel are sent on to Lapalisse for repairs and the envelope returned for repairs to Chalais-Meudon.
;22 September :Capt. Louis F. Ferber,, of the French Army, is killed when he drags a wing during a low-altitude turn in a Voisin biplane at a flying meet at Boulogne, France, overturning the machine. "Capt. Ferber was pinned to the ground."
;25 September
;31 October
;5 November
1910
;20 August :Lt. Marquis Vivaldi, of the Italian Army, is killed at Magliano, near Rome, in a Farman biplane. "In descending he lost control." The 28 January 1911 issue of Flight states that the "Motor stopped and machine was smashed; he was killed instantly.";3 October: The first recorded collision between aircraft occurs at the Milano Circuito Aereo Internazionale meet held in Milan, Italy, when René Thomas of France in an Antoinette monoplane collides with Captain Bertram Dickson of the British army, the first British serviceman to qualify as a pilot, in a Farman biplane by ramming him in the rear. Both pilots survive but Dickson is so badly injured he never flies again.
;3 December
;30 December :French aviator Lt. Jacques de Caumont, 28, is killed in the 50 hp prototype Nieuport III monoplane, at St. Cyr, this date, when he suffers loss of control.
1911
;10 May;18 August
;17 September
;24 September :His Majesty's Airship No. 1, intended as a scout for the Royal Navy, known as the "Mayfly", but designated ‘HMA Hermione’ in public records because the naval contingent at Barrow were attached to HMS Hermione, a cruiser moored locally preparing to act as its tender, breaks in two in high winds as it is being removed from its shed at Cavendish Dock for full trials. The design is never flown.
;18 November
1912
;24 May:Ten days after successfully demonstrating the third Jacob Goedecker-built Fokker Spin for a German army delegation, Anthony Fokker crashes at the Johannisthal aerodrome, near Berlin, Germany, falling about 40 feet when a wing bracing-wire breaks. Fokker is not hurt but his passenger Lt. von Schlichting is killed. Due to this accident, the hard wire bracing of the design is changed to a stranded cable. The Fokker M.1 through M.4 are developed for the German army from the Spin.;1 June: Herr Buchstaetler and Lt. Stille of the German aviation corps are killed in a crash at Berlin, Germany, this date.
;11 June
;19 June
;26 June
;5 July
;31 July
;13 August
;6 September
;10 September
;28 September
1913
;February;8 February
;March
;8 April
;17 April :The French military balloon Zodiac collapses in flight over Noisy-le-Grand, France, killing five.
;9 May: "By Associated Press to THE SUN KOENIGSBURG, Germany, May 9. - A German military spherical balloon, the "Cassiopeia," which ascended from this city on Wednesday, is missing with its passengers. It was last seen in the neighborhood of Pillau, about 35 miles from here, traversing the Frischen Ehrung peninsula in a storm." "It was under the command of Captain Von Wobeser of the second balloon battalion, stationed here."
;9 May: "By Associated Press to THE SUN LOS ANGELES, May 9. - Within 40 miles of his goal Lieutenant Joseph D. Park, the army aviator, flying from San Diego to Los Angeles, met death at Olive, nine miles north of Santa Ana, this morning. He had lost his way in a mist a short time before and had landed. He soon recovered his bearings, and attempted to reascend, but the machine plunged against a tree and turned over, the engine crushing the head of the aviator. Little girls on their way to school were among the horrified spectators of the tragedy. Park was recently transferred from the fourteenth cavalry to the army aviation corps at San Diego." Park was assigned to the 1st Aero Squadron. Park Field at Memphis, Tennessee, is named for him.
;27 May
;20 June:First fatality in U.S. Naval aviation occurs when flight instructor Ens. W.D. Billingsley, flying from the aviation encampment at Greenbury Point, Maryland, is thrown from pilot seat of the second Wright CH seaplane, B-2, at height of 1,600 feet in turbulent air over Annapolis, Maryland. Passenger Lt. John Henry Towers stays with airplane, sustaining injuries when it hits water. Design was modified conversion of Wright Model B with two pusher propellers driven through chains connected to a Wright engine. Billingsley was Naval Aviator Number 9.
;23 June
;17 July
;4 September
;9 September
;13 October
;17 October
;14 November :Wright Model C, Signal Corps 12, stalls and crashes into Manila Bay, the Philippines, killing the pilot. One source identifies him as Loren Call, while another gives his name as Lt. Perry Rich. The Almanac and Year-Book for 1914 gives his name as Lt. C. Perry Rich.
;24 November
;7 December
1914
;9 February;16 February :Lieutenant James M. Murray, Naval Aviator No. 10, on a flight at Pensacola, Florida, in the Burgess D-1 flying boat, crashes to the water from 200 feet and is drowned. This was the first flying fatality at Pensacola and it came only two weeks after flight operations began there. Flights were suspended for two days out of respect for the lost aviator. Of the first ten Naval aviators, half would die in crashes.
;9 March:Lieutenant Alejandro Bello Silva was a Chilean aviator who disappeared during his qualifying flight for certification as a military pilot. In the pre-dawn hours, this date, Lieutenant Silva was in the Lo Espejo aerodrome, where he was to take an examination to earn the designation Military Pilot. Bello and two companions had to complete the circuit from Lo Espejo to Culitrín, to Cartagena, and back to Lo Espejo, in the central region of Chile, in order to pass the exam. On the first attempt, the aviators had to return to base due to near-zero visibility caused by heavy fog. Bello damaged his aircraft during the landing, and switched to an Sánchez-Besa biplane for the second attempt. He took off together with one companion and the instructor, who had to make an emergency landing for refueling. Nevertheless, Bello continued his route and was lost among the clouds. He was never seen again and many searches over time have failed to find any trace of him or his aircraft.
;12 May or 25 May
;4 June
;20 June
;26 June
;27 June
;9 July
;26 July
;12 August
;8 September
;5 October
1915
;6 March;1 May
;8 May
;3 August:The German Main Headquarters communique released in Amsterdam this date, and reported by Reuters, states that "A French captive balloon, which was torn from its anchorage during a thunderstorm, was caught by us north-west of Etain."
;12 September
;17 November
1916
;22 March;7 June
;9 June
;18 June
;Afternoon of 27 June
;3 September
;Night of 6 September
;16 September
;21 September
;26 September
;28 October
;7 November
;8 November
;13 November
;12 December
;28 December
;29 December
1917
;1 January;21 January
;28 January
;7 February
;12 March :Flight Sub-Lieutenant Ronald Victor Knight, Royal Naval Air Service, died at RAF Cranwell on 12 March 1917 where he was an assistant flying instructor. The engine of the plane in which he was flying failed and he dived to his death. He is buried in Wells Cemetery, Somerset and his name is shown on the war memorial in Wells.
;26 March
;June
;16 June
;July
;21 July: French test pilot/instructor Jean Robinet, awarded Aviator's Certificate No. 476 by the Aéro-Club de France on 29 April 1911, is KWF an Anatra D at the Anatra Factory, Odessa, Russia, this date.
;2 August :"Captain Ralph L. Taylor, U. S. R., instructor of the Government Aviation Training School at Mineola, L. I., was killed when the military biplane under his control fell from a height of 800 feet, Aug. 2. Sergt. Thomas F. Pell, a student aviator with Captain Taylor, was injured." The Aviation Archeology database has no listing for this accident.
;3 August :"When the motor of his airplane stopped 300 feet up and the machine fell during his first flight, C. B. Lambert of Welch, W. Va., a student at the West Virginia Aviation School at Beech Bottom, was killed August 3. E. L. Frey, a member of the British Royal Flying Corps, an instructor at the school, was accompanying Lambert and sustained serious injuries." The Aviation Archeology database has no listing for this accident.
;7 August
;25 August
;17 September
;19 October
;29 October
;31 October
;22 November
;December
;1 December :A Caproni Ca.4 bomber, c/n 5349, which arrived at Langley Field, Virginia, as part of a shipment of various Italian aircraft in September 1917, but whose erection was delayed by lack of an appropriate hangar, is finally readied for flight on this date. Upon takeoff, one motor fails and unable to maintain airspeed on the remaining two powerplants, the airframe piles up on the edge of the field. No injuries, but the airframe is a total loss.
;12 December
1918
;Early 1918;5 January
;7 February
;13 February:"FORT WORTH, Tex., Feb 13. - Lieutenant Wray and Cadet Porter of the Canadian Royal Flying corps were killed at Hicks Field this afternoon when their machine fell to earth. Approximately forty aviators have been killed at the training field near here since the aviation camps were opened. Lieutenant Peyton C. March, Jr., injured yesterday when his airplane fell at Hicks Field, died at 2 o'clock this afternoon, it was announced at the base hospital here."
;Night of 7/8 March:Captain Henry Clifford Stroud of No. 61 Squadron RFC, Rochford Aerodrome, Essex, flying an S.E.5a, B679, and Capt Alexander Bruce Kynoch of No. 37 Squadron RFC in a Royal Aircraft Factory BE 12, C3208, out of Stow Maries Aerodrome, Essex, are killed in a midair collision over Shotgate about midnight. Kynoch took off at 2329 hrs. while Stroud took off at 2330 hrs., both attempting to intercept a German raider headed for London, but collided on a moonless night, both coming down in Dollymans Farm. Stroud is buried in the churchyard of St. Andrews Church in Rochford. Kynoch is buried in St. Pancras and Islington Cemetery in north London.
;10 March
;13 March: "NORFOLK, Va., March 14. - Falling while 300 feet in the air in a seaplane, Ensign Leslie M. Macnaughton, U. S. N. R. F., was drowned and Cadet Malcolm Stevenson was slightly injured." "The plane was completely wrecked. It had not been determined tonight what caused the accident. MacNaughton's body was recovered soon after the accident by a navy craft. Stevenson was clinging to the wreckage, slightly stunned, but otherwise uninjured." Leslie Malcolm MacNaughton, Reserve Force, born 2 October 1894, was an undergraduate at Yale University, where he joined the Yale Flying Squadron. He left school to become a pilot during the World War, being designated Naval Aviator Number 330 on 28 January 1918, and was flying from Naval Air Station Hampton Roads.
;14 March: "HUSTON, March 14. - Lieut. Marmaduke Earle of Louisburg, Pennsylvania, and Nile Gelwick of Findlay, Ohio, were killed at Ellington field today and Civilian Instructor Kaiser was seriously injured internally in falls in airplanes resulting from a tail spin. Both accidents were attributed to high wind which prevented the young fliers gaining control of the planes when they fell into the tail spin." The Aviation Archeology database lists pilot Miles W. Gelwicks as killed in Curtiss JN-4D, SC-25056, at Ellington Field this date, and M. M. Earle killed in an unknown airframe.
;14 March: "FORT WORTH, March 14. - Lieut C. Finch of the Royal flying corps and Cadet Flier Howard P. Bittinger of the United States aviation corps were seriously injured here when the engine of their airplane stopped at an altitude of 500 feet and they fell at Camp Hicks." The Aviation Archeology database does not list this accident.
;15 March :"SAN DIEGO, Cal., March 15. - Flying Cadet M. J. Lazelli had a narrow escape from death about noon today while on flight duty near Rockwell field. Lazelli, flying almost a mile high, was practicing trick evolutions and failed to come out of the drop known as the 'falling leaf.' The machine developed a tail spin and fell 4000 feet into the bay. Lazelli was rescued almost immediately after he struck the water, escaping with only slight bruises. The airplane was but slightly damaged."
;18 March :"FORT WORTH, March 18. - Cadet Flier Ellis B. Watts was instantly killed and Capt. L. V. Drake was injured when their airplane fell 300 feet in a spinning nose dive. Cadet Watts' home was in Portland, Oregon." The Aviation Archeology database shows L. V. Drake as pilot of an unidentified airframe in an accident at Camp Everman, Texas.
;18 March: "By Associated Press to THE SUN SAN DIEGO, March 18. - Flying Cadet Ralph T. Simpson, 27 years old, of Pasadena, was instantly killed this afternoon, when, emerging from a long nose dive in his airplane, he emerged from the dive upside down and fell to the water near North Island a distance of 100 feet. The machine landed on the cadet as he struck the water and was totally wrecked by the crash. Simpson's body was soon recovered and plans were made to send his body to Pasadena late tonight. Simpson was what is technically known as a second solo flier and had been making rapid progress in his training work. The accident was the first of the kind on record here. Simpson was the third cadet killed in practice work here, although Rockwell Field at North Island has turned out hundreds of young aviators in the last few months, their total length of flights being more than 50 times the circumferenece of the globe." Another report described the fall as being 1,500 feet, although this may refer to the length of the dive. It continued that Simpson was alone in the plane, and that he had only been at the aviation school for one month, having come from the preliminary training school at the University of California. The Aviation Archeology database shows Simpson crashing into San Diego Bay in Curtiss JN-4, SC-953, this date.
;28 March
;4 April
;16 April: "HOUSTON, Tex., May 13. - Lieut. Benjamin V. Maurice, of New York, died at Ellington field today of injuries suffered when his airplane fell, April 16."
;17 April :"By Associated Press to THE SUN HAMILTON, O., April 17. - Cadet Edward B. Bonynge of New Jersey, was instantly killed and his pilot seriously hurt in an airplane accident a mile from the Beamsville aviation camp today. Bonynge was to leave for overseas shortly. Bonynge came here from Washington, New Jersey. His parents lived in Santa Barbara, California."
;17 April : Curtiss JN-4CAN "Jenny", SC-39997, of the Signal Corps Aviation School, Rockwell Field, North Island, San Diego, California, crashes into San Diego Bay. killing the pilot. "By Associated Press to THE SUN SAN DIEGO, April 17. - Second Lieut. Guinn W. Mattern, of Dayton, Ohio, was killed here today when the airplane in which he was practicing for his reserve military aviator license, went into a tail spin and fell 1,500 feet into San Diego bay. Neither machine nor the aviator's body had been recovered tonight." "SAN DIEGO, April 18 – Divers were still searching today for the body of Lieutenant Guinn W. Mattern, formerly of Dayton, Ohio, who fell to his death in San Diego bay late yesterday. Mattern, doing a tail spin, dropped 1500 feet into the bay channel and machine and aviator disappeared. He is the fourth aviation victim at North Island since the United States declared war." The Aviation Archeology database spells the pilot's name Gwynn W. Mattern.
;24 April:"By Associated Press to THE SUN WICHITA FALLS, Tex., April 24. - Second Lieut. Stephen R. Warner, flying instructor of Maplewood, New Jersey, with Cadet Edwin D. Cryer of Allegheny, Pennsylvania, were killed two miles east of Call field, near here, this morning, when their plane, flying 50 feet above the ground, suddenly burst into flames and fell. Both bodies were badly burned." The Aviation Archaeology database lists Curtiss JN-4D, SC-1703, with Edwin Duncan Cryer as crew crashing near Call Field this date. However, Joe Baugher shows serial 1703 tying up to a Standard J-1, not a JN-4.
;30 April: "By Associated Press to THE SUN WASHINGTON, May 9. - Edward Augustus Smith, Jr., of Baltimore, of the navy aviation service, was killed April 30 in an airplane accident in France, the navy department announced today." The Library of Congress lists Edward Augustus Smith, Jr., Quartermaster lc aviation, as killed this date. His remains were not recovered.
;1 May:"By Associated Press to THE SUN DAYTON, O., May 1. - Lloyd Allen, aged 24, of New York city, a cadet flyer at the Wilbur Wright aviation field met instant death today when his machine became unmanageable while making a practice flight and crashed into a school building." The Aviation Archaeology database lists Curtiss JN-4A, SC-1500, of the Signal Corps Aviation School, flown by Lloyd S. Allen, crashing this date, confirmed by Joe Baugher.
;2 May :de Havilland DH.4M, AS-32084, during test flight of the Liberty engine by Major Oscar A. Brindley, "the Army's most experienced pilot", and Lt. Col. Henry J. Damm, out of McCook Field, Dayton, Ohio, takes off at maximum weight, stalls before clearing "the small maple trees that bordered the field and crashed to the ground before the eyes of horrified witnesses. Maj. Brindley died instantly, and Lt. Col. Damm passed away on the trip to the hospital." The cause was found to be a spark plug that "had jammed itself between the wing's trailing edge and aileron, making it impossible for Brindley to control the craft." A period wire service item lists the accident site as occurring at the Dayton-Wright Company airfield at Morain City , the location of that firm's plant 1, their main factory. Both officers had recently come from Washington, D.C., and according to a news account their plane fell ~400 feet. Damm had served as commanding officer at the North Island aviation school at Rockwell Field until 1 February 1918. Brindley, "before entering the army, was a civilian instructor at North Island. He was detailed by the war department to investigate a series of fatal accidents here and his recommendations resulted in the junking of a large number of army airplanes and the consequent falling off in the number of accidents."
;2 May:"OMAHA, Neb., May 3. - Two Fort Omaha balloon school cadets were killed, 18 seriously injured, two probably fatally, and 25 others slightly burned when a big 35,000 cubic foot sausage balloon exploded in its hangar last night. The dead are believed to be Private John E. Davis and Vincent L. Beall. The two men were burned and charred beyond recognition. A lock of red hair on one escaped the flames and a silver ring on the other was not disfigured. Although Colonel Hersey's official statement said the explosion probably was caused by static electricity from the balloon's silken sides rubbing together, it is generally reported by witnesses that there were two explosions, started when gas was being transferred from a nurse balloon to the sausage in the hangar."
;2 May:Lieut. James S. Ennis, of New York City and Cadet Paul Herriott, of Oakland, California, are killed when their airplane falls at Hicks Field, located NNW of Saginaw, Texas, "while doing a straight nose dive. They fell 150 feet." Herriott was formerly secretary to Senator Hiram Johnson of California, which post he resigned to enter the aviation service. The Aviation Archaeology database does not list this accident. Another news account lists the victim as James Ed Ennis, and notes that Herriott, under Johnson's administration as governor of California, "was a member of the state board of control. He was a newspaper man and was widely known throughout the state."
;2 May: "EL CENTRO, May 3. - Unable to right himself from a nose dive a cadet flyer from the North Island Aviation school, whose name was withheld, landed in a heap near the Coyote mountains in this county, late last night and sustained a sprained ankle. With considerable pluck the aviator crawled on his hands and knees to the San Diego and Arizona railway grading camp, two miles distant, where he received medical attention. Early today assistants from North Island, together with a captain, arrived here and attempting to land after flying the machine from the mountains the captain who was piloting the machine, came to grief by smashing into the brush, breaking one wing. He, however, escaped unhurt. A truck later transported the broken plane to San Diego". The Aviation Archaeology database has no listing for this accident.
;3 May: "SAN DIEGO, May 3. - Flying Cadet Nicholas C. Healy was instanttly killed and Cadet Hanley sustained a broken ankle as a result of an airplane accident near La Jolla at 4:50 o'clock this afternoon. According to reports from La Jolla, the airplane fell in a spinning nose dive from an altitude of about 500 feet after the cadets had made a forced landing for some unknown reason, and started up again.. O'Hanley hails from Garden City, Long Island." Myron Emmett O'Hanley and Nicholas C. Healy are listed as the crew of Curtiss JN-4D, SC-978, of the Signal Corps Aviation School, Rockwell Field, which suffered a stall / spin and crashed near La Jolla this date, by the Aviation Archaeology database.
;4 May:"By Associated Press to THE SUN BABYLON, N. Y., May 4. - Ensign Spencer T. Alden of Fort Wayne, Indiana, wask illed and Philip P. Mooser, student aviator of Boston, was seriously injured when a naval hydro-airplane which they were operating, 'side-slipped' 500 feet and fell into Great South bay near Fire Island inlet today." "BAY SHORE, L. I., 4 May. - One aviator was killed and another seriously injured when a naval hydro-aeroplane 'side-slipped' and fell 300 feet into Great South Bay, near Bay Shore today. Ensign Spencer T. Alden, aged 25 years, a flying instructor, whose home is at Fort Wayne, Ind., was killed. His skull was crushed. Phillip P. Mooser, aged 24, of Boston, a student aviator, is suffering from a fractured skull and other injuries. Mooser was pulled out of the wreckage within three minutes and the prompt use of a pulmotor saved his life. Alden's body was not recovered until minutes later. Alden's father was at the stattion here when his son's body was brought in. He and Mrs. Alden arrived here yesterday to visit their son."
;4 May: "By Associated Press to THE SUN ARCADIA, Fla., May 4. - Lieut. S. T. Valentine of New York city, attached to the army aviation school near here, was killed instantly today when the airplane in which he was flying fell approximately 2000 feet."
;5 May:"NEW YORK, May 9. - Two naval aviators who disappeared off the Florida coast May 5 arrived here today aboard an American steamer. They were: Lieutenant Arthur Laverents of Cheyenne, Wyo. O. C. Cotton, mechanician. They had been picked up after nearly 30 hours of battling for their lives on a stormy sea that threatened to wreck their hydro-aeroplane. They were faint from hunger and the knowledge that the water was infested with sharks added to their mental agony. They were nearly 60 miles off shore when rescued."
;8 May: "CAMP MILLS, HEMPSTEAD, L. I., May 8. - Cadet John D. Ervin, of West Point, Miss., was instantly killed and two other aviators were injured when two airplanes collided at Hempstead Plains today. Cadet R. E. Jeremy, who was in the machine with Ervin, was so seriously injured that he can only live a few hours. His home is at Emporia, Kansas. Cadet J. R. Vidmer, driver of the other airplane, had his left leg broken, and was otherwise injured. The two machines collided at high speed and fell two hundred feet. R. E. Jeremy was so seriously injured that he can only live a few hours. His home is at Emporia, Kansas." The Aviation Archaeology database shows Curtiss JN-4A or JN-4D, SC-1320, with the pilot listed as both Julian D. Vidmer and as J. W. Widmer, colliding with Curtiss JN-4A or JN-4D, SC-1329, flown by John B. Ervin, who is described as killed, seven miles from Mineola, New York. Joe Baugher shows 1320 and 1329 as delivered as JN-4As then converted to JN-4Ds.
;9 May: "LAWTON, Okla., May 9. - Lieut. George Sherman, student officer at Post field school for aerial observers, was killed late today when an army airplane in which he was making a flight fell 300 feet. The pilot was only slightly injured." The Aviation Archaeology database lists George Leslie Sherman as being killed in the takeoff crash of a Curtiss JN-4H, serial unknown, due to engine failure, at Post Field, Fort Sill, Oklahoma, this date.
;9 May: "By Associated Press to THE SUN SAN ANTONIO, May 9. - In an airplane accident six miles from here at 8 o'clock tonight one man was killed and another seriously injured. Authorities at the hospital at Fort Sam Houston where the injured man and the body of the dead airman were taken, refused to make public their names." The Aviation Archaeology database lists no accident in the San Antonio area for this date, or by this news item's dateline, although an accident at Kelly Field, Texas, is shown occurring on 10 May.
;9 May
;10 May or 11 May: "FORT WORTH, Tex., May 11. - Cadet Harry J. Myers failed to come out of a spinning nose dive with his airplane and is dead today after a plunge of 1200 feet to earth. Myers, whose home was in Bucyrus, O., had been training about two months." The Aviation Archaeology database lists Myers as crashing in Curtiss JN-4B, AS-824, at Taliaferro Field, Texas, on 10 May. This serial maybe incorrect as it does not tie up to a JN-4B, according to Joe Baugher.
;11 May: Curtiss JN-4HT, SC-38059, suffers a stall/spin condition after an engine failure and crashes at Ellington Field, Houston, Texas, killing pilot Louis Eddy Davis. "Says yesterday's Examiner: 'Lieutenant Louis E. Davis, who died at Houston, Texas, Friday from injuries sustained in a fall from his aeroplane Thursday, before the war used to spend his winters in California. His father, who is owner and editor of the Bloomington Pantograph, brought his son here as a youth to regain his health. The young man resided on his father's ranch near Santa Cruz, and was an occasional visitor to San Francisco. He married Miss Styletta Kane of Watsonville last August at the home of Mrs. Edward White, wife of the commissioner of immigration in this city.'"
;14 May :"WITH THE AMERICAN ARMY IN FRANCE, May 14. - Falling through the clouds an American airplane crashed to earth two kilometers behind the American lines in the Toul sector late this afternoon, killing both the pilot and the observer." The Aviation Archaeology database lists a Sopwith, 5382, of the 2d Aviation Instruction Center, Mezieres, France, flown by B. C. Hopper, crashing after suffering a stall / spin condition this date. These two accounts may be the same accident.
;14 May: "LONDON, May 22. - Second Lieut, H. W. Preston of the British air force, son of Robert K. Preston of Chicago, was killed on May 14 while flying in England."
;16 May :"WASHINGTON, May 16. - The post-office department was informed that the postal plane which left New York today for Philadelphia, piloted by Lieut. Stephen Bonsat was smashed in making a landing at Bridgeton, New Jersey. The aviator was not hurt. The aviator, the message said, lost his way and in attempting a landing ran into a fence." Stephen Bonsal was one of the Army pilots selected by Major Reuben H. Fleet to initiate air mail service between New York and Washington, D.C. via Philadelphia beginning on 15 May 1918. Curtiss JN-4HMs were used at the outset.
;16 May:"By Associated Press to THE SUN WASHINGTON, May 16. - Aviation accidents at American fields took a toll of 12 lives in the two weeks ending May 8, the war department reported today. Twenty-nine flying fields are now being operated by the army air service in the United States. Four other fields, Payne, Souther, March and Mather, will soon be opened for flying instruction, increasing the total to 33."
;17 May:"New York, May 18 – Captain Antonio Silvio Resnati of the Royal Italian Flying Corps and pilot of several of the Caproni planes, was killed in a fall at Mineola Field yesterday. Improper judgement of his take-off speed, combined with a side-slip while at an altitude of about 50 ft. caused the fall. Captain Resnati was 25 years old and first came into prominence last September when he attained an altitude of 17,000 ft at Langley field. Later he made a flight from that field to Mineola carrying nine passengers in 4 hr. 2 min. Captain Resnati met his death on the eve of an attempt to fly across the Atlantic in a new giant Caproni which was being especially built for the trial." The Aviation Archaeology database confirms Resnati's crash in a Caproni at Hazelhurst Field. Resnati’s funeral is held in St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City on 31 May, with Captain Hugo d'Annunzio and Sergeant Gian Felice Gino flying over in a Caproni from Hazelhurst Field, which drops flowers. Resnati was a native of Milan. His body is returned to Italy by sea.
;19 May
;3 June
;4 June:"MONTGOMERY, Ala., June 4. - Aviation Cadet George O. Mills of Jersey City, New Jersey, was killed late today when his plane caught fire and fell 2000 feet near Taylor field. " The Aviation Archaeology database lists a crash by George Atles Mills in an unidentified airframe at Taylor Field this date.
;4 June:"HOUSTON, Tex., June 4. - Private John Earner of Philadelphia was killed and Lieut. Elmer N. May slightly injured today at Ellington field when their airplane became unmanageable in the air and crashed to the ground." The Aviation Archaeology database lists Curtiss JN-4D, AS-2941, piloted by May, as stalling and spinning into the ground 4 miles W of LaPorte, Texas.
;4 June:"SAN ANTONIO, Tex., June 4. - Second Lieut. Joseph John O'Mally, age 26, of Albany, Missouri, was instantly killed here today when his airplane went into a tail spin and could not be righted. A companion whose name was not disclosed by the authorities, escaped unhurt." The Aviation Archaeology database lists Curtiss JN-4D, SC-3255, flown by Joseph John O'Malley, as spinning in at Brooks Field this date.
;4 June: The Aviation Archaeology database lists Curtiss JN-4D, SC-3300, flown by Warren C. Shankle, as crashing at Brooks Field, Texas, this date, after a stall/spin. The accident was non-fatal.
;4 June:"By Associated Press to THE SUN SAN DIEGO, June 4. - Civilian Instructor Stanley Coyle, 27 years old, Coudersport, Pennsylvania, and Flying Cadet Elwyn Chapman, 27, of Brookline, Massachusetts, were killed today when the airplane in which they were flying grazed another machine about 200 feet above Rockwell field, North Island, and fell into a spinning nose dive to the ground. Both machines were nearing the landing place when the accident occurred. Coyle's airplane crashed to the earth, while the other, driven by a lieutenant, managed to glide safely. Chapman suffered fractures of both legs, his left arm and his jaw. He was taken to the hospital at Fort Rosecrans. The young cadet died in the hospital early this evening." Stanley V. Coyle was flying Curtiss JN-4D, Field No. 234, when he struck JN-4D, Field No. 154, piloted by J. E. Read.
;8 June
;19 June
;19 June: "FORT WORTH, Tex., June 19. - Lieut. H. C. Kelly, flying instructor at Benbrook, was killed this afternoon in a crash. The cadet he was instructing escaped uninjured." The Aviation Archaeology database lists Curtiss JN-4D, Field No. 118, flown by Harold Clifford Kelly, from Carruthers Field, crashing 3.5 miles NE of the field.
;20 June:"MEMPHIS, June 20. - Losing control of his airplane while attempting a landing, Cadet Flyer H. W. McClannahan, of Tennessee, fell several hundred feet at Park field, , Millington, Tennessee, today and was killed. The Aviation Archaeology database lists Harvey H. McClanahan as crashing at Park Field in Curtiss JN-4A, serialled either SC-1593 or SC-1595, this date, while Joe Baugher identifies the airframe involved as 1595.
;20 June: "MONTGOMERY, Ala., June 20. - Second Lieut. Halbert Clark, of Washington, District of Columbia, was killed, and Cadet Aviator Milton Renard Erdman, was injured today near Taylor field, by the fall of an airplane in which they were flying at 800 feet." The Aviation Archaeology database does not list this accident.
;20 June:"ABERDEEN, Miss., June 20. - Lieut. Leo M. Hines, Ellenwood, Kansas, and Lieut. Francis M. Roberts, of Watertown, New York, are dead, and Lieut. Robert C. Moore, Elmwood Palace, Ohio, may die as the result of an airplane collision today at an altitude of 1,700 feet near Payne field." The Aviation Archaeology database lists Francis W. Roberts, in Curtiss JN-4D, AS-39260, and Robert G. Moore, in JN-4D, AS-39236, crashing a half mile N of Payne Field, NNE of West Point, Mississippi, this date. Joe Baugher's serial lists show these two aircraft to be JN-4CAN Canucks.
;21 June: "ST. LOUIS, June 21. - Lieut. James R. Wheeler, 28, an aviator of this city, was killed at Scott field at Belleville, Ill., near here, today when his airplane plunged 500 feet to the earth. Cadet John M. Raffter of St. Paul, riding with Wheeler, escaped with slight injuries. Lieut. Wheeler's machine plunged to the flying field when it failed to come out of a tail spin, which he had attempted at too low an altitude." The Aviation Archaeology database does not list this accident.
;5 July: "PARIS, July 5. - – Two American aviators were killed today when the machine in which they were flying at a low altitude fell to the ground in flames. The airmen were Lieut. William Dudley Robbens and Second Lieut. John Wilford of the American army. The bodies of the aviators were burned to a crisp." The Air Service Journal on 11 July carries essentially this same news release under the heading "DIED OF ACCIDENT".
;7 July: "NEW YORK, July 8. - Flight Sergeant Gino Gianfelce, one of Italy's most famous aviators, instructor of Resnati D'Annunzio, and other well-known airmen of Italy, is dead here today, the result of a nose dive he attempted while flying in a fast scout machine slightly more than 300 feet above the ground – a trick he often had warned his pupils against." The Aviation Archaeology database lists Gino Gianfelce crashing at the Signal Corps Aviation School at Hazelhurst Field, Mineola, New York, on 7 July in an unidentified airframe after experiencing a stall/spin condition. The Air Service Journal carries this on 11 July: "Sgt. Gianfelice Gino, R. I. F. C. att. A. S. S. C. - Sergt. Gianfelice Gino, Royal Italian Flying Corps, att A. S. S. C., who was training American aviators to fly Caproni machines, dived to death at Hazelhurst Field July 7. Sergeant Gino was considered one of the best pilots of the Italian Flying Corps and had instructed practically all the noted Italian pilots and had made several world's records. He had just successfully tested an American built Caproni and carried Major General Kenly, Chief of Military Aeronautics, as one of the passengers. After landing he took up a S. V. A. scout to give an exhibition of acrobatics close to the ground and after half an hour misjudged his distance from the ground when going into a nose-dive and was unable to straighten out before striking the ground." The pilot's name is correctly Gian Felice Gino.
;8 July: "By Associated Press to THE SUN BELLEVILLE, Ill., July 8. - Lieut. Richard H. Fawcett, 22 years old of Alexandria, Virginia, was instantly killed at 7 o'clock tonight and Cadet Lester H. Cox of New York City was slightly injured when an airplane went into a tail spin and fell 600 feet to the ground about two miles southeast of Scott field here." The Aviation Archaeology database has no listing for this accident.
;9 July
;15 July: "BUFFALO, N. Y., July 15. - Aviator F. S. Hale, Quincy, Ills., and Student Homer B. Sharpe, Washington, D. C., fell 100 feet in an airplane at Curtiss field today. Hale was dead when picked up and Sharpe was removed to the Erie county hospital with a fractured skull. It is believed the motor stopped while the machine was in the air."
;Between 27 July and 1 August
;28 July
;1 August: "ST. LOUIS, Mo., Aug. 2. - An aviator at Scott field, whose name the officers would not disclose, fell 1,500 feet in his machine yesterday evening and suffered only bruises, it became known today. The plane was demolished." The Aviation Archeology database does not list this accident.
;2 August: Curtiss JN-4D, AS-3888, crashes at Post Field, Fort Sill, Oklahoma, killing the pilot. "WICHITA FALLS, Tex., Aug. 2. - Lieut. W. L. Carson, of Call field, was killed in a fall from an airplane at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, this morning, according to a telegram received at Call field this afternoon. Lieutenant Carson flew to Fort Sill this morning. The report from Fort Sill says that Carson was alone in the machine when it fell. His home was at Hood River, Oregon." Apparently the report that the pilot fell FROM the plane should have read fell WITH the plane.
;2 August: "DALLAS, Tex., Aug. 2. - Lieut. Robinson E. Bidwell, a flying instructor at Love field, whose parents reside at Red Bluff, California, was killed today at Rylie, nine miles south of Dallas, when his airplane burst into flames at an altitude of about 2,000 feet and fell. When about 500 feet from earth Lieutenant Bidwell, who was flying solo, jumped from his plane and was killed by the fall. The cause of the machine taking fire is not known. Lieutenant Bidwell came to Dallas about a month ago. His was the third fatality among Lpve field aviators since the field was established, more than a year ago." Curtiss JN-4HB bombing trainer, SC-38452, was destroyed.
;2 August: Standard J-1, AS-1918, crashes and is written off at March Field, California. "By Associated Press to THE SUN RIVERSIDE, Aug. 2. - William L. Ash, flying cadet at March field , fell 1,000 feet in a tail spin today and was seriously injured. He suffered a fractured leg and arm and puncture of the side. It is expected he will recover. Ash lived at Pittsburg, Kansas. It was the first serious accident at March field. Ash was making his second solo flight when he fell." The Aviation Archeology database lists the pilot as J. L. Ash.
;2 August: "SAN DIEGO, Cal., Aug. 2 – Two serious airplane accidents are reported today by the Rockwell field aviation school at North Island, both accidents being caused by airplanes going into "tail spins." Corporal Carl F. A. Christenson was killed instantly in the first accident, while he was flying with Lieut H. F. Cotton. Their machine went into a tail spin while over the Coronado Tent City band pavilion at a height of 1,500 feet and dived into the bay. The lieutenant sustained minor injuries. Christenson came here from Norway or Sweden and gave the address of Mrs. Margaret McDonald, Philadelphia, for emergency requirements. The second accident occurred near the Otay mesa flying base. Lieut. Clement R. Jacomini, flying instructor, was up with Lieutenant Miller, their machine taking a tail spin from a height of 150 feet. Miller escaped unhurt, and Jacomini sustained a dislocated hip and painful bruises. The Aviation Archeology database lists pilot Horace G. Cotton as crashing S of the Tent City, Coronado, in Curtiss JN-4B, AS-3094, and Clement R. Jacomini crashing two miles from Otay mesa in Curtiss JN-4D, SC-39876. The "Casualties" section of the 8 August 1918 issue of the Air Service Journal gives the spelling as Cristenson, and states also that Lieut. Jacomini, of Pasadena, California, died of his injuries on 3 August 1918.
;10 August
;13 August
;16 August
;19 August
;24 August
;7 September :"By Associated Press to THE SUN – MATHER FIELD, Sacramento, Cal., Sept. 7. - Flying Cadets William G. Wilson, of Berkeley, California, and a son of J. Stitt Wilson, at one time a candidate for the socialist party for governor of California, and James H. Wilson. of Pueblo, Colorado, met death today when their airplanes collided in the air. The accident occurred at the south end of the field. They were not related. Civilians who witnessed the collision said the airplanes came together head on. One of the airplanes tumbled downward and crashed to the earth, while the other seemed to be descending for a landing, witnesses said. William G. Wilson was killed instantly. He suffered a fractured skull and internal injuries. James E. Wilson was removed to the base hospital where he died about 25 minutes after the accident. He suffered internal injuries and his thigh was injured. The bodies of the two cadets were taken to an undertaking establishment in Sacramento where they will remain pending instructions from the relatives. They were draped with American flags. The cadets were flying at an altitude of about 3,500 feet when the airplanes came together. The accident occurred near Walsh station, a short distance from the southern end of the field. The wrecked airplanes fell to earth at points about a half mile apart." Curtiss JN-4Ds AS-3673 and AS-3995 written off in this accident.
;11 September
;25 September
;21 October: Burgess-built Hispano-Suiza-powered Curtiss N-9, A2468, is written off in Pensacola Bay, Florida, but with no injuries.
;5 November: 1st Lt. Byron Bilderback, 27th Aero Squadron, 1st Pursuit Group, is forced down by engine failure of his SPAD XIII near Montfaucon, France. He reports to the 27th Squadron C.O.: "Started on ‘A’ Flight patrol at 15:00 H. Motor ran well until about 16:00 H when turning at 2100 revs it suddenly grabbed and prop stopped instantly. I was flying at 500 meters and had no choice of landing place. Landed in shell holes, etc. Machine is a total washout. I brought back the clock and altimeter."
1919
;1 February;4 February
;9 April
;2 May
;26 May
;8 June
;2 July
;15 July
;Summer
;1 August
;10 August : Lts. Harold G. Peterson, pilot, and Paul H. Davis, observer-gunner, depart from Marfa Field, in the Big Bend area of Texas, on a routine Sunday morning patrol of the U.S.-Mexican border, in Curtiss JN-4D, 24146, based at Fort Bliss, El Paso, Texas, "Their mission was to patrol along the Rio Grande from Lajitas to Bosque Bonito and then land at Fort Bliss. Coming to the mouth of the Rio Conchos at Ojinaga, Chihuahua, they mistook the Conchos for the Rio Grande and followed it many miles into Mexico before being forced down by engine trouble. Thinking they were still on the Rio Grande, the airmen picked a spot on the "American" side of the river to land. The terrain was rough and the plane was wrecked. Having buried the machine-guns and ammunition to keep it out of the hands of bandits, Peterson and Davis started walking down the river, thinking they would come to the U.S. Cavalry outpost at Candelaria, Texas." It is assumed when they fail to arrive at Fort Bliss that they have either returned to Marfa or had been forced down. A search is begun on 11 August as far south as Chihuahua City, but the flyers, caught in thick brush, are not seen when overflown on 12 August by a plane following the Conchos. Search continues until Sunday, 17 August, when word is received by Capt. Leonard F. Matlack, commanding Troop K, 8th Cavalry, at Candelaria, that the airmen are being held for ransom. "The flyers had been taken prisoner on Wednesday, August 13, by a Villista desperado named Jesus Renteria. The bandit sent the ransom note to a rancher at Candelaria, along with telegrams which he forced the airmen to write to their fathers and the Secretary of War, the Commanding General of the Southern Department, and the Commanding Officer of U.S. forces in the Big Bend District. Renteria demanded $15,000 not later than Monday, August 18, or the two Americans would be killed." The War Department authorizes the payment, and local ranchers subscribe to the full amount so that it can be disbursed from the Marfa National Bank. Negotiations through intermediaries see Captain Matlack crossing the border on Monday night to swap half the money for one American. All goes smoothly and in 45 minutes he returns with Lieutenant Peterson. But en route to the rendezvous with the other half of the ransom, Matlack overhears Renteria's men discussing killing both Americans once they have the money. At the meeting, Matlack pulls a gun, directs the Mexicans to tell Renteria to "go to hell", and, avoiding the ambush, rides back across the border with Lieutenant Davis. On Tuesday, 19 August, Capt. Matlack leads Troops C and K, 8th Cavalry, in pursuit of Renteria and his gang. Air Service planes scout ahead, and 1st Lts. Frank Estill and Russell H. Cooper spot three horsemen in a canyon ~12–15 miles W of Candelaria in late afternoon. When they close for a look, the riders fire on the DH.4. Estill makes a firing pass with his machine guns and Cooper opens up with his Lewis guns, killing one man, reportedly Renteria. The search for the gang continues until 23 August when, with the Mexican government protesting the invasion of its territory, American forces return to the U.S. The loss of JN-4D 24146 was recorded 13 August.
;21 August :Two U.S. Army officers of the 9th Corps Observation Squadron, patrolling the border with Mexico on a flight from Calexico Field to Rockwell Field, San Diego, California, become lost in a storm, and land their DH.4B on a beach at Refugio de Guadalupe on Las Animas Bay in Lower California. Lieutenants Cecil H. Connolly and Frederick D. Waterhouse survive for 19 days before they are murdered by Mexican fisherman for their pitiful belongings and their bodies buried. The destroyer USS Aaron Ward is dispatched to retrieve the bodies and investigate the circumstances, returning the airmen’s remains to San Diego on 26 October 1919. The Governor of Lower California, Esteban Cantu, declares that the aviators died either from thirst or were killed and their bodies partly dismembered by "ravenous" coyotes, both theories being rejected outright by Major R. S. Bratton, commander of the party that recovers the victims’ remains. Bratton asserts that the names of those involved in the murders are known both to him and to representatives of Gov. Cantu. Colonel H. L. Watson, commanding officer of Rockwell Field, states that the skull of one of the airmen had been fractured.
;4 October : Army Major Patrick Frissell is killed in a mid-air collision in an unknown type from the Aviation Repair Depot, at Indianapolis, Indiana, according to one source, at a location reported as both Port Jervis, New York, and Binghamton, New York. Another source states that he was killed when the DH-4 he was piloting struck a tree and crashed on Prospect Mountain, near the southern end of Lake George in New York State. Second Lieutenant Gerald E. Ballard, the aircraft’s observer, was seriously injured in the crash. Maj. Frissell and Lt. Ballard were en route from Binghamton to Mineola, New York, to take part in a transcontinental air race. Frissell commanded the Speedway Aviation Repair Depot at Indianapolis.
;5 October : Colonel Townsend F. Dodd, 33, commander of Langley Field, Virginia, is killed in an air crash at Bustleton Field, Philadelphia, shortly after 1600 hrs., during preparations for the New York to San Francisco transcontinental air race. While attempting to land in heavy fog, the aircraft, DH.4, AS-24006, at an altitude of 20 feet, strikes a tree. The engine tears loose and pins Dodd against the gas tank. "He was strangled to death by the heavy motor which rested on his neck." Machinist George E. Hess, flying with him, is uninjured. On 1 May 1928 Remount Station #1 was named Dodd Army Airfield, the nation's first dedicated military airfield. Dodd Army Airfield was an airfield located within the current boundaries of Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. Dodd Field includes the area bounded on the north by Rittiman Road, on the west by Harry Wurzbach Memorial Highway, on the south by Winans Road and on the east by the Fort Sam Houston Reservation boundary. Dodd Field was designated in War Department General Order Number 5. Prior to deployment to Europe for World War I Dodd had served at the remount station and had been Commander of the Aviation Post when the 3rd Aero Squadron was stationed there. He was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. Active flight operations were terminated in October 1931, although the official date of closure of Dodd Field as an aviation facility has not been determined.
;5 October: In an unrelated accident at Bustleton Field, Philadelphia, but within 15 minutes of Colonel Townsend F. Dodd’s fatal crash, four Army airmen are injured when their plane crashes in heavy fog. Major F. M. Davis, Captain Harry Douglas, Lieutenant C. R. Colt, and Harry R. Kashe, mechanic, are recovering in Frankford Hospital.
;7 October :"EUGENE, Ore., 7 Oct.. - Lieutenant Webb, of Eugene, was killed at Medford today when his De Haviland plane fell to the earth. The motor stopped when the plane went into a tail spin. Sergeant McGinnis, who was with him, was seriously injured, but his chances for recovery are good."
;8 October : "MINEOLA, L. I., 8 Oct.. - Benedict Crowell, assistant secretary of war, narrowly escaped injury this afternoon when an airplane in which he was riding, fell 50 feet to the ground here and overturned. Both Crowell and his pilot, Maurice Cleary, were buried under the machine, but escaped with a shaking up. The accident occurred when Cleary tried to avoid striking a hangar. Crowell announced his intention at once of going up in another machine."
;8 October
;9 October
;10 October
;15 October : Captain Lowell H. Smith safely arrives at Curtiss Field, Buffalo, New York, leading the western aviators in the cross-country flight, but his aircraft is accidentally destroyed by fire that night. He will not be permitted to continue in the air derby and will return to his post by rail.
;15 October
;15 October: Captain Roy Francis is forced to discontinue his "around the rim" tour when his Martin MB-1 is damaged near Yutan, Nebraska.
;16 October:Lt. Belvin W. Maynard, on the return leg of the transcontinental derby, is forced down four miles W of Wahoo, Nebraska, with a broken crankshaft in his DH.4. Neither Lt. Maynard nor Mechanic Sgt. Cline are injured. An ordained Baptist minister, Maynard had been heavily covered by the press as the "Flying Parson" or the "Sky Pilot." Assistance is sent by Army trucks from Omaha field at Fort Crook. Maynard wired Washington for permission to transfer an engine from the MB-1 downed the previous day to his aircraft in order to continue the flight.
;16 October : Captain Harry Smith and Lieutenant Allen, observer, are forced down at Fernley, Nevada, and their DH.4 is wrecked. They are not injured, but they will not be allowed to continue in the air contest.
;17 October :Major Carl Spatz withdraws from the aerial derby, and turns his plane over to Captain Lowell Smith, permitting him to continue west on the second leg of the competition, after Smith’s plane was accidentally burned while undergoing maintenance at Buffalo, New York. Lt. Belvin W. Maynard, the "Flying Parson," resumes his trip eastward from Wahoo, Nebraska, after an engine change on his aircraft.
;17 October : Lt. Alex Pearson Jr. is forced down at North Platte, Nebraska, with a broken motor. He planned to resume flying on Monday 20 October after replacing his engine with one from the Martin MB-1 which was forced down at Yutan, Nebraska. The local control commander expressed the powerplant to him at North Platte. Lt. Maynard, the "Flying Parson," repaired his downed aircraft with the other engine from the disabled bomber.
;18 October :Major Gilkerson’s plane is wrecked upon landing at Rawlins, Wyoming, pilot and observer uninjured. Major Abbey wrecks his plane in a forced landing near Auburn, California, but he is uninjured. Lt. Gish strikes a building on the Presidio landing field upon arrival at San Francisco, at 1122 hrs., demolishing his plane. Neither he nor his observer Pomeroy are injured.
;Autumn
;18 December:The prototype Vickers Viking, an amphibious aircraft designed for military use, registered G-EAOV, a five-seat cabin biplane with a pusher propeller driven by a Rolls-Royce Falcon water-cooled V 12 engine, crashes as Sir John Alcock takes it to the Paris exhibition whilst trying to land at Côte d'Evrard, near Rouen, Normandy in foggy weather.
;23 December: "RIVERSIDE, 23 Dec.. - Second Lieutenant Herbert Tuchborne, and Private Allister Lima, were instantly killed at March field, the army aviation school, near here when the plane fell about 2000 feet today. Details of the accident were not given out, pending the completion of an official preliminary investigation."
1920
;1 February;17 March
;19 April
;19 April :"MODESTO, April 19. - Lieutenant W. M. Randolph of Rockwell Field, driving his German Fokker plane W-7 from Rockwell Field to the aeronautical show at San Francisco, wrecked the plane here this afternoon when he attempted to make a landing at the edge of the aviation field. The under part of the machine was completely torn away, but the pilot escaped without injury. His engine was stopped when he attempted to alight, and when the wheels struck a ditch he was unable to get the engine started in time to take the air again, and the Fokker, making a leap of about 50 feet, turned turtle and was put out of commission. The dismantled machine will be shipped to San Francisco." Captain William Millican Randolph will die in the crash of a Curtiss AT-4 Hawk on 17 February 1928, and Randolph Field, Texas, will be named in his honor.
;22 April
;22 April :"YUMA, Ariz., April 22. - Lieutenant F. C. Bell, United States army aviator, was drowned in the Colorado River here early tonight when a government airplane belonging to the border patrol in which he was attempting to fly beneath the Ocean-to-Ocean highway bridge at this point, struck a high tension wire suspended below the structure and fell into the stream."
;23 April :Curtiss JN-6HO single-control observation trainer, AS-41912, suffers engine failure "after the machine risen but 100 feet from the ground" at March Field, California, the forced landing seriously injuring pilot Sgt. Mack E. Killman and killing passenger Cpl. H. F. Waverneck. The biplane comes down on the Crandall Ranch, ½ mile N of the Perris High School, Perris, California.
;10 May :"AMERICUS, Ga., May 10. - Earl P. W. Blacklear, 24, of San Diego, former army air instructor, was instantly killed here today in a fall of 1500 feet while flying alone in a German Fokker machine, one of those surrendered by the Germans under the armistice. Blacklear has been a civilian employee of Souther field since his discharge from the army." The Aviation Archeology website lists the accident date as 11 May 1920, with no identification of the aircraft type involved.
;21 May :"SAN ANTONIO, Tex., May 21. - Lieutenant Alvin M. St. John of Memphis, Tenn., and Private Carl L. Cuhler of Elgin, Ills., were instantly killed here this afternoon when a plane they were flying crashed into a flagpole and then into a building at Kelly Field." The Aviation Archeology website reports that St. John was flying Airco DH.4A, AS-24158, but according to Joe Baugher's site, that serial ties up to a Curtiss JN-4D. The Aviation Archeology site also lists the accident date incorrectly as 28 May 1920.
;22 May
;25 May :"SANTA ANA, May 25. - Lieutenant Hutchinson, naval aviator, was seriously injured at Newport Mesa, seven miles from here, today when an airplane in which he and Gunner Reushall were making a trial flight fell 100 feet. Hutchinson suffered a compound fracture of the right leg and cuts about the face and shoulders. Reushall escaped injury. Both were pinned under the wreckage of the plane, which was a complete loss." Lester B. Hutchinson was Naval Aviator No. 203.
;19 June
;5 July
;8 July : Five Mexican military flyers are killed late this date in the crash of a Farman biplane, which falls 1,900 feet and comes down near La Colorada, Mexico. The plane was en route north from Mexico City with seven on board.
;12 August
;2 October
1921
;23 March;15 April :1st Lt. James J. Langin, army pilot, and senior at the Law School at Georgetown University, from Neola, Iowa, is killed at Bolling Field, Washington, D. C., when his S.E.5 side-slips for unknown reasons and he loses control. "He was descending to make a landing and was within 200 feet of the ground when the machine fell." Knocked unconscious by the impact, he dies when "the machine, flooded with gasoline, burst into flames. The body was removed as soon as it could be reached, later being taken to the Walter Reed Hospital."
;28 May
;21 June :"RIVERSIDE, June 21. - Sergeant James E. Jones, of Washington, D. C., was killed, and Private Lester J. Overton injured in an army airplane in which they were flying fell 300 feet to the ground at March Field today. The accident was caused by the motor of the plane stalling, it was stated by officials at the field. Jones was instantly killed, while Overton's injuries were reported not to be serious." Curtiss JN-6H, AS-44889, came down 1½ miles E and ¼ mile S of the airfield.
;7 July
;7 July : "SAN FRANCISCO, July 7. - An army observation balloon, up in training work, fell 2000 feet into the bay today. The crew was rescued by a tug sent out from Angel island. No one was injured. Overloading is said to have been the cause of the accident."
;10 July:"MOUNDSVILLE, W. Va. - Five persons are known to be dead and 50 others were injured seriously when an army bombing plane crashed into a crowd of spectators at Langlin Field here. . The dead: Ralph Hartzel, 18 years old; Carl Pettit, 16, of Moundsville; Fred Edge, 35, Round Bottom, Ohio ; Mrs. George Long, 65, of Moundsville. The body of a boy has been recovered and it is believed the body of another persons is under the flaming wreckage, which cannot be approached owing to intense heat.... Scores of others were rushed away in autos and taken to homes of private physicians, and it was impossible to obtain a complete list. The plane is charge of Lieutenants R. Melvor and D. H. Dunton and Mechanic W. D. Conwell, was circling the field preparatory to taking off for Washington, and according to the statement of Lieutenant McPherson, the controls stalled and the plane crashed head-on into a line of automobiles. As it hit the fuel tank burst and exploded, spraying burning gasoline in all directions, and setting fire to 15 automobiles. Several score men, women, and children, many of them with their clothing in flames, were dragged out of burning automobiles, fifteen of which were destroyed."
;12 July
;19 July
;24 August
;31 August
;29 September
;28 December
1922
;21 February;21 February
;11 May :"HAMPTON, Va., May 11. - The army blimp, A-4 arrived safely at Langley Field late today after having drifted for an hour and a half over the ocean off Cape Henry with her engines dead. The craft drifted to sea before a four-mile northwest breeze until repairs were made when she turned her nose toward shore. The crew of five were none the worse for their experience. The engine trouble developed about 3:30 o'clock in the afternoon and for a time considerable anxiety was felt for the craft and its occupants by short stations and radio offices which kept in communication with the blimp. It was found unnecessary however to despatch airplanes or other blimps to her assistance. Army officers refused to give out the names of the crew although it was said Lieutenant Olmstead was at the wheel during the flight." The pilot was probably Lt. Robert Stanford Olmsted, who will be killed on 23 September 1923, when the Army free balloon S-6 is struck by lightning over the Netherlands during an international balloon race. The A-4 was the first blimp operated by the U.S. Army, built by Goodyear in April 1919. It arrived at Langley Field on 11 July 1919 from Akron under the command of Lt. George McEntire.
;June
;17 June :Army airmen Lieutenant Robert O. Hanley and Sergeant Arthur Opperman are killed near Louisville, Kentucky, when their DH.4, U.S. Army Air Service serial number not recorded, crashes while making a sharp banking turn. Airframe destroyed by post-crash fire. The men were airborne to photograph the airshow that was to shortly begin. The aircraft was assigned to the 7th Photo Section at Godman Field, Camp Knox, Kentucky.
;23 September
;October
;14 October :The Navy-Wright NW-1, BuNo A-6543, a racer designed and built in a mere three months, flew for the first time on 11 October 1922, just days before it was entered in 14 October 1922 Pulitzer air race at Selfridge Field, Michigan. Entered at the last minute, the press dubbed the new entry, the Mystery Racer. Assigned to the second of three heats, and wearing race number 9, the close-fitting cowling over the Wright T-2 engine retained heat and caused the oil temperature to exceed its operating limit. Streaming smoke around the race course, the pilot was over Lake St. Clair, near Detroit when the red-hot engine failed. "The extreme low position of the lower wing was not conducive to ditching and the "Mystery Racer" flipped over and sank in the mud. The aircraft was written-off but the pilot emerged unscathed."
;17 October
;22 October
;11 November
;12 November :"HARTFORD, Conn., Nov. 12. - Lieut. John Blaney, army flier, from Mitchel Field, Long Island, was instantly killed this afternoon at Brainard Municipal field here while taking part in an airplane relay in the Hartford aviation meet. His plane struck a tree and crashed when about to land. Lieutenant Blaney was completing the third of the race, and flew close to the ground. He was flying about 140 miles an hour when the plane hit the tree. He was instantly killed." He was flying Atlantic DH.4M-2, AS-63626, of the 5th Observation Squadron.
;12 November
;6 December :"NEWPORT NEWS, Va., Dec. 6. - Major Guy L. Gearhart, of Leavenworth, Kan., Captain Benton A. Doyle, of St. Louis, and four enlisted men were killed today in a collision between a Martin bomber and a Fokker scout plane, 250 feet above the Hampton Normal School farm, which adjoins Langley field. The machines burst into flames and were destroyed, and several men who attempted to rescue the men pinned beneath the wreckage were severely burned. The bomber, piloted by Captain Doyle, took the air to lead a formation of six planes and was 'banking' when the scout machine, in charge of Major Gearhart, rose swiftly and hit it in the rear. The other machines already in the air maneuvered out of the way and effected safe landings. It was announced tonight that a board of inquiry would investigate the accident." Fokker D.VII, AS-7795, ex-German FF7795/18, hit Martin NBS-1, AS-68491.
;7 December
1923
;4 March;12 April : Capt. Hugh J. Knerr, commanding officer of the 88th Observation Squadron, Wright Field, Ohio, and Sgt. John McKenna, returning to Fairfield Air Depot, Ohio, from a reconnaissance flight, suffer a stuck valve on the Liberty engine of Airco DH.4B, USAAS 64566, while hedge-hopping, duck under powerlines directly ahead, and crash-land in a rough pasture near Richmond, Indiana. Plane takes out ~100 feet of wire fence and strikes a cherry tree, shedding its lower wings and undercarriage, resulting in it being written off. Pilot Knerr suffers a strained neck. Investigation shows that "the accident was unavoidable and through no fault of the pilot." Knerr will medically retire from the U.S. Air Force in 1939 with the rank of major general.
;21 April
;31 July
;15 September
;23 September
;18 November
;23 November
;30 November
;21 December
1924
;16 January :While moored at NAS Lakehurst, New Jersey, USS Shenandoah's upper tail fin covering is ripped during a gale, and the sudden roll tears out her mooring tube from the Lakehurst mast. Damage to the nose deflates the first gas bag and holes the second. Zeppelin test pilot Anton Heinen rides out the storm and lands safely while the airship is being blown backwards. A period of repair is needed, not returning to service until 24 May 1924, and a proposed Arctic expedition is scrapped.;23 February
;21 March
;27 March
;30 April
;2 June :Assisting the U.S. Weather Bureau in research, the USAAS Balloons and Airship School schedules fifteen balloon flights from Scott Field, Illinois, for Dr. C. LeRoy Meisinger, who had gained experience with balloons and meteorology as an Air Service officer during the war. The project ends with the tenth flight, this date, when lightning strikes the balloon, killing both Dr. Meisinger and his pilot, 1st Lt. James M. G. T. Neely.
;2 August
;15 September
;10 October :U.S. Army blimp TC-2 explodes over Newport News, Virginia, when a bomb it is carrying detonates. Two of five crew killed. "WASHINGTON, Oct. 10 – Lieutenant Bruce Martin of San Francisco was seriously injured with four other army men when the army blimp TC-2 was forced to the ground by the explosion of one of its bombs at Langley Field, Virginia." "NEWPORT NEWS, Va., Oct. 10 – Lieutenant Bruce H. Martin died at midnight as a result of injuries sustained at Langley Field this morning when a bomb carried by the U. S. Army blimp TC2 prematurely exploded, wrecking the craft and injuring the five members of its crew."
;10 October :The rear section of USS Shenandoah is damaged while making a landing in windy conditions at Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego, California, after completing the second leg of a cross-country flight from Fort Worth, Texas. "Slight damage was done to the Shenandoah when the airship was brought to the ground last night. Officers at North Island this morning stated that one of the rear gondolas struck the ground slightly, but with sufficient force to strain two of the girders in the aft portion. The damage, it was said, is not serious, but on account of the mountains to be flown over on the flight to Camp Lewis, it was deemed best to make thorough tests to avoid any possibility of accident." "The work of repairing the strained girders continued all day yesterday."
;11 October :"PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 11 – Flying in excess of 150 miles an hour, the United States navy racing seaplane FTW fell 100 feet into the Delaware river today and was completely wrecked. The pilot, badly injured, extricated himself." This was actually the Wright F2W-2, A7644, which suffered from poor handling characteristics, the tremendous torque of its huge Wright T-3 Tornado liquid-cooled engine flipping the racer onto its back on landing during its first and only flight.
;16 October
;20 October
;18 November :"LAGUNA BEACH, Nov. 19. - Rescued from rough seas by two men in a rowboat when their seaplane landed 100 yards off of the rocky shores here, Lieutenants Douglas Powell and Charles Haltline of the U. S. S. New Mexico are recovering from exposure and shock. One of the rescuers, who arose from a sick bed to aid the officers, is seriously ill, suffering from a relapse and exposure." The Associated Press reported: "SAN DIEGO, Nov. 18. - Lieutenants Douglas Powell and Charles G. Halpine, naval aviators, were rescued this evening off Laguna Beach, according to telephone messages from that place. The aviators left this city late today to fly to the battleship New Mexico at San Pedro. Off Laguna Beach Lieutenant Powell's machine, just repaired at North Island, developed engine trouble and Powell was forced to descend to the ocean. Lieutenant Halpine came down to aid him and managed to get a tow line to him. Darkness, however, set in and the two officers, not knowing exactly where they were, were forced to stop when they neared the breakers. There they shouted for help and the shout was heard by residents of the beach who assembled a battery of automobiles on a bluff and trained headlights on the aviators while two beach residents went out in a lifeboat and got the officers to shore." They were probably flying Vought UO-1 observation planes, which replaced other types aboard catapult equipped cruisers and battleships from 1923.