Thomas Selfridge: The First Airplane Fatality

On the evening of 17 September 1908, a young American officer named Thomas Selfridge climbed into a fragile wooden aircraft at Fort Myer, Virginia. Minutes later, he would become the first person in history to die in the crash of a powered airplane.

The machine was a Wright Flyer, designed and flown by Orville Wright, one half of the famous Wright brothers. The demonstration flights at Fort Myer were part of a U.S. Army evaluation. The military was considering purchasing an aircraft from the Wright Company, and Orville had already impressed observers with controlled turns and sustained flight.

Orville Wright and Thomas Selfridge in Wright flyer before the ill-fated flight. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Thomas Selfridge was born in 1882, in San Francisco, California. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1903, and received his commission in the Artillery Corps. In 1907, he was assigned to the Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corps at Fort Myer, where he was later instructed in flying a dirigible. He was also associated with the Aerial Experiment Association (AEA), the innovative group backed by Alexander Graham Bell.

Selfridge took his first flight on December 6, 1907, on a Bell's tetrahedral kite, rising to 168 feet (51 m) in the air above Bras d'Or Lake in Nova Scotia, Canada. This was the first recorded passenger flight of any heavier-than-air craft in Canada.

Selfridge also designed the AEA's first powered aircraft, the Red Wing. On March 12, 1908, the Red Wing, piloted by Frederick W. Baldwin, raced over the frozen surface of Keuka Lake near Hammondsport, New York, on runners, and managed to fly 318 feet (97 m) before crashing.

On May 19, 1908, Selfridge became the first US military officer to pilot a modern aircraft, when he flew solo in AEA's newest craft, White Wing. By doing so he became the first U.S. military officer to fly any airplane unaccompanied.

Lieutenant Thomas Etholen Selfridge

On 17 September 1908, he volunteered to ride as Orville’s passenger, becoming the first U.S. Army officer to fly in a powered airplane.

Shortly after 5 p.m., the Flyer lifted off from the parade ground. The aircraft was a skeletal structure of spruce and muslin, its twin propellers driven by a small gasoline engine. Unlike modern airplanes, it had no enclosed cockpit, no seatbelts, and no protective structure. The pilot and passenger lay side by side on the lower wing, exposed to the wind.

For several minutes, the flight proceeded smoothly. Orville circled the field at an altitude of roughly 100 to 150 feet. Spectators below watched as the Flyer completed three laps. Then, halfway through the fourth circuit, one of the wooden propellers broke and the plane began to lose thrust. The unbalanced propeller began to vibrate violently. The shaking transmitted through the drive chains and frame of the aircraft caused the split propeller to hit a supporting guy wire, causing it to snap. The wire tore out of its fastening and shattered the propeller, while the rudder swivelled to the horizontal and sent the Flyer into a nose dive.

Wright shut off the engine and managed to glide to about 75 feet (23 m), but the craft hit the ground nose-first. Orville and Selfridge were thrown forward amid splintered beams and twisted wires.

The crashed airplane. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Orville Wright was pulled out alive but badly injured, with broken ribs, a broken leg, and hip fractures. He would survive after weeks in the hospital.

Thomas Selfridge, however, had suffered a far more severe injury. The crash had fractured his skull. At the time, neither man wore head protection, as aviation helmets were not yet standard equipment. He was carried to the post hospital at Fort Myer, where surgeons operated in an attempt to relieve pressure on his brain. He never regained consciousness.

Thomas Selfridge died that evening, becoming the first fatality in the history of powered aviation.

The crash at Fort Myer underscored just how fragile early aircraft were and how little margin for error existed. Yet the accident did not halt progress. After recovering from his injuries, Orville resumed flying. The Wright brothers improved their designs, addressing structural weaknesses and propeller reliability. The U.S. Army eventually purchased a Wright aircraft in 1909.

Selfridge’s death also led to practical changes. The Army soon required aviators to wear protective headgear.

People attend to one of the victims of the first fatal aircraft accident. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

Today, Thomas Selfridge lies buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Though often remembered solely for the manner of his death, he was more than aviation’s first casualty. He was a trained engineer and an advocate of aeronautical innovation.

Selfridge is memorialized by a large cenotaph at West Point Cemetery. He was also inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in Dayton, Ohio.

The damaged propeller of the Wright Flyer wrecked at Fort Myer can be viewed at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, in Dayton, Ohio.