Crash of a De Havilland DH.60X Moth near Detroit

Date & Time: Apr 28, 1932
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
G-CAKF
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Walkerville - Walkerville
MSN:
459
YOM:
1928
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
1
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
The single engine airplane departed Walkerville, in the suburb of Windsor, Ontario, for a local joyride. In unknown circumstances, it crashed in a field located south of Detroit. Both occupants were injured and the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.

Crash of a Fokker F10A in Detroit

Date & Time: Feb 8, 1932
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
NC812H
Flight Phase:
Survivors:
Yes
MSN:
1051
YOM:
1929
Crew on board:
0
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
Suffered an accident in Chicago. There were no casualties.

Crash of a Stearman C-3MB in Marcellus: 1 killed

Date & Time: Feb 2, 1932 at 0130 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
NC6411
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Chicago – Kalamazoo
MSN:
161
YOM:
1928
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
1
Circumstances:
While cruising at night on a mail flight from Chicago to Kalamazoo, the pilot encountered poor weather conditions with heavy snow falls. He decided to bail out and abandoned the aircraft that entered a dive and crashed in an open field. The pilot was found 17 hours later, seriously injured. He died from his injuries two days later.

Crash of a Ford XB-906 in Dearborn: 2 killed

Date & Time: Sep 19, 1931 at 1030 LT
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
NX9652
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Dearborn - Dearborn
MSN:
XB-906-1
YOM:
1931
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
2
Circumstances:
The crew was engaged in a local test flight on this first XB-906 prototype based on the Ford 5 and destined for the US Army. While flying in the vicinity of the airport, after completing a steep turn at high speed, the aircraft lost its both wings that were torn off. It entered an uncontrolled descent and crashed near the runway, bursting into flames. Both crew members were killed.
Crew:
Sherman Leroy Manning, pilot,
L. H. Garriott, mechanic.
Probable cause:
Both wings detached in flight, probably after being overloaded due to excessive aerodynamic forces.

Crash of a Fokker Y1C-14 at Camp Skeel

Date & Time: Jul 24, 1931
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
31-393
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
MSN:
1427
YOM:
1931
Crew on board:
0
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
The single engine airplane crashed upon landing. There were no casualties.

Crash of a Ford 5 in Dearborn: 2 killed

Date & Time: Nov 24, 1930
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
NX419H
Flight Type:
Survivors:
No
Schedule:
Dearborn - Dearborn
MSN:
5-AT-079
YOM:
1929
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
2
Circumstances:
The crew was performing a local test flight at Dearborn Airport. Upon landing, the airplane went out of control and crashed, bursting into flames. Both crew members were killed.

Crash of a Lockheed 8A Sirius in Roscommon: 1 killed

Date & Time: Apr 25, 1930
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
NC12W
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Roscommon - Roscommon
MSN:
142
YOM:
1930
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
1
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
1
Circumstances:
The pilot Herbert J. 'Hub' Fahy and his wife Claire flew a new Sirius to a small grass strip in Roscommon, Michigan, where they were to demonstrate the plane to a potential buyer, Cliff Durant, son of William Durant, founder of General Motors. The Fahys acted as sales agents for Lockheed and the deal was Durant agreed to buy the plane if Fahy could prove that the Sirius could land and takeoff safely from Durant’s personal strip. Herb and Claire got the plane on the ground without incident, but as they took off, one of the wheels of the Sirius hit a partially hidden stump, which flipped the plane over. According to reports in the Herald Tribune for April 26 and 28, 1930, Fahy suffered a fractured skull and a severe concussion while Claire survived uninjured. Rescuers had to cut away part of the plane's structure to extricate the fliers. Fahy was rushed to a local hospital where he died early on Sunday morning, April 27, 1930 without regaining consciousness. He was 33 years old.

Crash of a Pitcairn PA-6 Mailwing in Flint

Date & Time: Feb 18, 1930
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
NC129E
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Cleveland – Bay City
MSN:
15
YOM:
1928
Crew on board:
1
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
While cruising at an altitude of 1,000 feet in poor weather conditions (heavy snow falls), the engine failed. The pilot decided to bail out and abandoned the aircraft that entered a spin and crashed in a field located one mile northeast of Flint. The plane was wrecked but three pouches of mail were saved. The pilot Clifford William March was uninjured.
Probable cause:
Engine failure in flight.

Crash of a De Havilland DH.4M Gipsy Moth off Grosse Ile: 1 killed

Date & Time: Aug 26, 1929
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
NC894E
Flight Phase:
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Grosse Ile - Grosse Ile
MSN:
2-A
Crew on board:
2
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
1
Circumstances:
The single engine airplane was completing a local training flight over the Grosse Ile area with two pilots on board. En route, the pilot-in-command lost control of the airplane that entered a dive and crashed in the Detroit River. A crew member was injured while the second was killed.

Crash of a Lockheed 1 Vega in Flint

Date & Time: Aug 4, 1929
Type of aircraft:
Operator:
Registration:
NX34E
Flight Type:
Survivors:
Yes
Schedule:
Flint - Flint
MSN:
35
YOM:
1929
Crew on board:
4
Crew fatalities:
Pax on board:
0
Pax fatalities:
Other fatalities:
Total fatalities:
0
Circumstances:
After landing in an open field with tall grass, the airplane impact rocks and came to rest. All four occupants evacuated safely while the aircraft was damaged beyond repair.