George E. M. Kelly
George Edward Maurice Kelly (11 December 1878 - 10 May 1911) was the twelfth pilot of the U.S. Army's Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corps and the first member of the U.S. military killed in the crash of an airplane he was piloting. He was the second U.S. Army aviation fatality, preceded by Lt. Thomas Selfridge who was killed while flying as an observer in a Wright Flyer piloted by Orville Wright on 17 September, 1908.[1]
Biography
Kelly was born on 11 December, 1878 in England. He emigrated, gained U.S. citizenship, and joined the U.S. Army in 1904.[2]
On January 16, 1911, Kelly was a troop officer in the 30th Infantry when he participated in an exhibition reconnaissance flight with Wright Company pilot Walter Brookins. Kelly volunteered for flying training and was detailed to the Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corps and sent to the Curtiss aviation school in San Diego, California. Before his training was completed, he and two other pilots (including 1st Lt. Paul W. Beck) were sent to Fort Sam Houston, Texas, where 1st Lt. Benjamin Foulois, the Army's sole aviator, was stationed with its sole operational aircraft, a leased Wright Model B. There the Army accepted delivery of two new aircraft, a Curtiss Model D, serial number S.C. No. 2, and a Wright Model B, S.C. No. 3, on April 27, 1911, and resumed training for the three prospective pilots.
On 10 May 1911, Kelly took S.C. No. 2 up alone for his primary pilot qualification flight. After five minutes in the air, he came down for a landing at what appeared be full speed and failed to level off in time. The front wheel of the airplane struck the ground, breaking the fork of the steering wheel. Kelly managed to pull up and turn to make another landing attempt. This time the airplane went out of control and crashed, pitching Kelly 100 feet out of the aircraft.
The investigating board ruled that the crash occurred because the first landing had damaged the control system, and that Kelly sacrificed himself to avoid plowing into an infantry encampment.[3] He died from a skull fracture at Fort Sam Houston Hospital an hour after the accident.[2] He was buried in San Antonio National Cemetery.[1]
Foulois felt that the accident was the fault of Beck, who had since been promoted to captain and now commanded the small unit, for the use of faulty materials to rebuild the plane after Beck wrecked it the preceding week. The plane's Curtiss mechanic, however, blamed Kelly's poor flying technique, stating that when he banked the plane to turn away from the infantry camp, the wing struck the ground. Due to this crash, the commanding officer of the Army's Maneuver Division, Maj. Gen. William H. Carter, banned further training flights at the fort. The flying section, now led by Capt. Beck and including the repaired S.C. No. 2, was shipped to College Park, Maryland in June–July 1911 where the Army opened its own Flying School in June.[4]
Legacy
The Aviation Camp (aka Remount Station) at Fort Sam Houston was renamed Camp Kelly, 11 June 1917, then Kelly Field on 30 July 1917, and finally Kelly Air Force Base on 29 January 1948.[5]
See also
- List of fatalities from aviation accidents
- Thomas Etholen Selfridge, first person in United States to die in powered air crash
References
- ^ a b "San Antonio National Cemetery". Veterans Administration. Retrieved 2010-10-20.
Second Lieutenant George E. M. Kelly (Section A, Grave 117-A), for whom Kelly Air Force Base was named. Lt. Kelly was killed in 1911 at Fort Sam Houston, the second U.S. Army aviator to lose his life in a military airplane accident.
- ^ a b "Lieut. Kelly Killed. His Airship Wrecked. Army Airman Suffers Fractured Skull in Fall at San Antonio and Dies an Hour Later". New York Times. May 11, 1911. Retrieved 2010-10-17.
Second Lieut. George E.M. Kelly of the United States Signal Corps, one of the four army aviators on duty with the division of regulars mobilized here, was killed this morning when a Curtiss aeroplane he was flying got beyond control, after which it ran through the air for over a hundred yards, and crashed to the ground, burying Lieut. Kelly in its wreckage.
{{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|coauthors=(help) - ^ Mueller, Robert, "Air Force Bases Volume 1: Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982", United States Air Force Historical Research Center, Office of Air Force History, Washington, D.C., 1989, ISBN 0-912799-53-6, page 267.
- ^ Baker, David, "Flight and Flying: A Chronology", Facts On File, Inc., New York, 1994, Library of Congress card number 92-31491, ISBN 0-8160-1854-5, page 49.
- ^ Mueller, Robert, "Air Force Bases Volume 1: Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982", United States Air Force Historical Research Center, Office of Air Force History, Washington, D.C., 1989, ISBN 0-912799-53-6, page 267.