Ferry

On November 9, 1935, at approximately 0445LT within the city limits of East Fort Worth, Texas, a commercially owned airplane, while being flown without passengers, crashed with resultant death of the pilot and the complete destruction of the aircraft. The airplane, a Lockheed Vega, model 5C, was owned and operated by Braniff Airway Inc., Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and bore Department of Commerce licence n° NC980Y. At the time of the accident it was being ferried from Dallas to Waco, Texas, via Fort Worth, and no passengers were permitted to be carried. The pilot, William C. Maus of Waco, Texas, held a Department of Commerce transport pilot's licence and a scheduled air transport rating. The take-off was accomplished at 0410LT, the airplane carrying a 5-hour gasoline supply. The ceiling at Dallas was 1,000 feet with 8 miles visibility. Fort Worth at the time had a ceiling of 500 feet with 7 miles visibility. It had not been the intention of the pilot to land at Fort Worth but to fly beyond it to a lighted airway leading into Waco, Texas, his destination. By the time Fort Worth was reached the ceiling had dropped to about 75 feet and the visibility was zero. This change in weather was broadcast to the pilot from Fort Worth with instructions that he return to Dallas. Whether or not the pilot received this broadcast is not known inasmuch as his airplane was not equipped with two-way radio. However, he had plenty of fuel and could have easily returned to Dallas, where the weather had remained constant, or have flown on to Houston, where the ceiling was practically unlimited. Reports from various people who heard the airplane overhead and saw the accident indicate that the pilot was attempting to get under the 75-foot ceiling, presumably to locate the airport. He was heard flying around for some time and made two complete circles at a low altitude in the immediate vicinity of the accident. Immediately preceding the crash the airplane appeared diving out of the mist. The engine was heard to accelerate as through the pilot had just caught sight of the ground and was making an effort to pull the airplane out of the dive before striking. The aircraft was destroyed by impact forces and the pilot was killed.

En route from Heston to Somerton, Isle of Wight, one of the engine failed. The pilot attempted an emergency landing when the aircraft crashed on a sport field located in Fort Monckton, south of Gosport. The pilot was uninjured while the three engine aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

The crew was flying back to his base in California. Shortly after takeoff from Salt Lake City Airport, while climbing, the aircraft went out of control and plunged into the Great Salt Lake. The aircraft sank quickly but all three occupants were able to evacuate the cabin. Unfortunately, they drowned while trying to reach the shore. The aircraft was owned by the Standard Oil of California, not the Standard Oil Company, defunct in 1914.

The crew completed a mail/cargo flight from Dnipropetrovsk to Kryvyi Rih in the morning. At 1035LT, the crew departed Kryvyi Rih on the return empty leg to Dnipropetrovsk. While approaching the destination, the crew encountered thick fog with very limited visibility. The pilot reduced his altitude, probably to maintain a visual contact with the ground, when the airplane impacted with its right wing the metallic pylon of a high tension line (160,000 volts). The airplane lost height and crashed. The mechanic was injured and the pilot was killed.

Crashed in unknown circumstances near Grenoble. The pilot Mr. Crundall was uninjured and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

The crew departed Kharkiv to ferry the airplane to its base in Tiflis with an intermediate stop in Mineralnye Vody. After takeoff from Mineralnye Vody Airport, the crew climbed to an altitude of 300-350 metres then continued to the southeast, following the railway track. About 20 minutes into the flight, weather conditions worsened and the visibility was poor due to fog. Rather than returning to Mineralnye Vody, the captain decided to continue and reduced his altitude. He continued vertical to the railway line, sometimes to its left sometimes to its right. Too low, the airplane struck the ground and crashed near the Apollonskaya Station in Novopavlovsk. One mechanic was seriously injured while both other occupants were killed.

On the evening of Friday 19DEC1930, the pilot encountered poor weather conditions and low visibility due to blizzard. He completed an emergency landing in an open field located near Jennerstown, Pennsylvania. The aircraft passed the night in the field and on Saturday morning 20DEC1930, the pilot started all three engines to re-position the aircraft to its base. Shortly after takeoff from the field, at a height of about 10 feet, the right engine failed. The pilot elected to gain height but due to an insufficient speed, the aircraft did not get enough altitude and impacted trees with its right wing. The airplane stalled and crashed on the ground. The pilot evacuated safely and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

The crew departed Detroit on a flight for New York to take part to a new aircraft exhibition. En route, the pilot encountered poor weather conditions due to heavy snow falls. In poor visibility, the aircraft impacted a hill near Attica. The aircraft was destroyed and all three occupants were killed.

The crew departed Kingman on a ferry flight to Glendale after dropping off their passengers. En route to Grand Central Airport, weather conditions deteriorated and the visibility was poor due to heavy snow falls. The aircraft impacted the slope of Mt Shay located about 30 km northeast of San Bernardino. As the aircraft failed to arrive at destination, SAR operations were initiated and the wreckage was found six days later by Dudley Steele, flying a Richfield Oil Company aircraft with Mrs. Juanita E. Burns as observer. The wreckage was spotted about eight miles from Lake Arrowhead. The aircraft was destroyed and all three crew members were killed.
Crew:
James E. 'Jimmy' Dole, pilot,
A. W. Bieber, copilot,
John W. Slaton, steward.

In the first Potez 25 registered 29 took place François Tulasne and his copilot Favier. In the second Potez 25 registered 47 took place Sergeant Robert Josserand and Sergeant in Chief Georges Vergnaud. With two other Potez 25, they were returning to their base in Tours-Parçay-Meslay after taking part to the funeral of the Romanian Colonel Stefan Protopopescu in Bucharest. All four aircraft made intermediate stops in Belgrade and Venice but both other crews encountered technical problems in Venice and Lyon and both aircraft were grounded. En route from Lyon to Tours, while cruising some two km south of Sorbier, Allier, the crews encountered poor weather conditions with heavy rain falls and low clouds. Due to poor visibility, the crew of the first aircraft decided to return and made a 180 turn when the collision occurred. From a height of 100 metres, both aircraft collided and dove into the ground, killing all four occupants.