Report of Wright Brothers' Airplane Crash
5/15/1908
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The Wright Brothers’ first flight on December 17, 1903, was the dawn of a new age — but a trip of 59 seconds for a distance of 852 feet did not convince anyone of the commercial viability of air travel. The brothers continued to experiment for two more years, but didn't fly at all in 1906 and 1907, and instead began negotiations with the U.S. and French governments with hopes of doing more with their invention. Neither nation was convinced of the practicality of the new machine, and many still doubted that powered-flight had taken place at all. If they could stay aloft for an hour and possibly carry something or someone in the airplane, then maybe there were possibilities.
On May 14, 1908, Orville and Wilbur Wright returned to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, and made a number of flights with a modified 1905 flying machine with two seats. After a number of tests with a bag of sand in the second seat, Charlie Furnas, a friend from Dayton, Ohio, became the first passenger in an airplane with Orville Wright at the controls.
Later that same day, Wilbur Wright took the plane up to attempt the hour-long flight. He did make the longest flight up to that time at Kitty Hawk, but the flight was only seven minutes long. Misjudging the new controls, Wilbur took the plane down when he wanted to go up and, unfortunately, was already very close to the ground and crashed.
This document, written by a newspaper reporter who witnessed the flights from the U.S. Weather Bureau station at Kitty Hawk, records the May 1908 flight. It also reveals the Wright Brothers' intentions to return to Kill Devil Hill in August 1908 to conduct further test flights.
The wreck did not discourage the two brothers. Wilbur had covered eight miles during those seven minutes for a speed of over 60 miles an hour. Later, on September 9, Orville Wright would make the first hour-long flight in a demonstration for the U.S. Army at Fort Myer, Virginia.
On May 14, 1908, Orville and Wilbur Wright returned to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, and made a number of flights with a modified 1905 flying machine with two seats. After a number of tests with a bag of sand in the second seat, Charlie Furnas, a friend from Dayton, Ohio, became the first passenger in an airplane with Orville Wright at the controls.
Later that same day, Wilbur Wright took the plane up to attempt the hour-long flight. He did make the longest flight up to that time at Kitty Hawk, but the flight was only seven minutes long. Misjudging the new controls, Wilbur took the plane down when he wanted to go up and, unfortunately, was already very close to the ground and crashed.
This document, written by a newspaper reporter who witnessed the flights from the U.S. Weather Bureau station at Kitty Hawk, records the May 1908 flight. It also reveals the Wright Brothers' intentions to return to Kill Devil Hill in August 1908 to conduct further test flights.
The wreck did not discourage the two brothers. Wilbur had covered eight miles during those seven minutes for a speed of over 60 miles an hour. Later, on September 9, Orville Wright would make the first hour-long flight in a demonstration for the U.S. Army at Fort Myer, Virginia.
Transcript
Collect 520 15thHerald New York
The Wright Brothers are not [dis]heartened over the accident [crossed out] to their [crossed out] aeroplane yesterday. As [crossed out] previously stated in their dispatches, they have been using their old machine here and today it was learned that they have a new and stronger machine already built in Dayton and
[left margin: [signed] Byron Newton]
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will return here with that next August to go on [with] their experiments. It was also learned [from] official sources [missing text] the flight interrupted by the accident was designed to be the most important performance ever attempted by an aeroplane. It was to be an endurance test [begin cross out] and the Wilbur Wright [end cross out] in which the operator had expected to remain in the air one hour and twenty minutes.
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That would have meant a flight of about [crossed out 8] eighty [miles?]. In the government [missing text] next August the [flight] machine will have to remain in the air one hour, but will not be required to cover no great a distance as was contemplated in yesterday's performance.
By actual measurement today it was determined that the machine made a
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little more than eight miles before it came down, but most surprising [crossed out] [nature?] of the flight is the [fact] that according to three persons who timed the flight the eight miles were covered in ^a little^ less than eight minutes. The Wrights have instruments on their aeroplane, which record speed, altitude, etc, but they would say nothing today except
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to state that when the accident occurred and at other times during the flight, the machine was [missing text] exceeding sixty miles an hour. Those who watched it darting [crossed out] around the sand hills did not question that statement. The Wrights also [crossed out] stated that a head wind did not [crossed out] diminish their speed.
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[While the two planes and the frame work of the machine were badly wrecked in the fall, the motor was not injured and continued to run. ^[100]^ After the craft came to be found. [Wilbur Wright the operator had his face slightly scratched and both he and his
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brother Orville were as merry as larks today and [begin cross out] went about this work of packing up the old machine and [end cross out] sang and whistled cherilly as they were packing up the wreckage.
One or both of them will go to Europe within a few weeks and they will be back here with their new
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machine next August. They were as reticent as ever today and seemed to care very little what the outside world might think or say about their performance of the last ten days.
Wilbur Wright said [begin cross out] he made a mistake [end cross out] today that the accident was caused by his mistake
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in pulling the wrong lever. The machine was only 15 feet from the ground and turning to look at a sand hill which he was approaching he felt one of the [crossed out] planes touch the sand and in [crossed out] a hurried grasp at the levers [crossed out] caught the wrong one and
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sent the machine turning summer saults on the sand. The three levers are very close together and [begin cross] out a mistake as they [end cross out] as they are a new feature on the machine, the accident is easily explained. The Wrights appeared to regard it as a very trivial
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matter, and [begin cross out] only one of the [end cross out] a thing by which they will profit in the end.
[signed] Byron Newton
Note - Expect to leave here tomorrow, if boat runs to Elizabeth City. [signed] Newton
This primary source comes from the Records of the Weather Bureau.
National Archives Identifier: 279330
Full Citation: Report of airplane crash and Wright Brothers' intentions for future test flights; 5/15/1908; Records Relating to Aviation Experiments Conducted by Orville and Wilbur Wright at Kitty Hawk, N.C., 1899 - 1950; Records of the Weather Bureau, Record Group 27; National Archives at Atlanta, Morrow, GA. [Online Version, https://docsteach.org/documents/document/report-wright-brothers-crash, April 26, 2024]Rights: Public Domain, Free of Known Copyright Restrictions. Learn more on our privacy and legal page.