Wings for the Fleet: A Narrative of Naval Aviation's Early Development, 1910-1916 by George Van Deurs

Author:George Van Deurs [Неизв.]
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781682471432
Publisher: Perseus Books, LLC
Published: 2016-08-10T20:00:00+00:00

12. V. D. Herbster’s report of the accident to the Navy hydroaeroplane B-2.

After Towers had been rescued, Herbster took command of the camp, got Chevalier and Dortch towed back from a forced landing, and a search started for Billingsley’s body. The next day he wrote up the available facts of the crash in the weekly camp report. By Monday he had sent two letters and a wire to Orville Wright. He wanted his opinion on the cause of the crash, and he said of course the Navy would want a new plane. Unlike Towers’ report after Ellyson had been injured at North Island, Herbster’s correspondence was exclusively concerned with material. There was not a single word of sympathy for the victims. In the weekly report, he merely mentioned Towers, saying he was in the hospital without giving any indication of his condition.

Billingsley was the first Navy man to be killed in an aeroplane accident. His flying career, which had been initiated by an accidental switch of names, lasted a few days over six months, and he had flown only 30 hours and four minutes. His death checked the expansion of naval aviation. For the first time, several senior officers realized that aeroplanes could be dangerous. An alarmed detail officer wiped his slate clear of the orders for flight training. Chambers hesitated; he would have liked to discuss the crisis with Towers, or with Ellyson, but neither of them were available, and he had little faith in Herbster, the most experienced pilot remaining in the aviation camp.

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