On September 17, 1908, Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge flew as a passenger with Orville Wright as he demonstrated a Wright Flyer for the U.S. Army at Fort Myer. Selfridge was keenly interested in flight and just a few months earlier, in May of 1908, became the first U.S. military officer to pilot a modern aircraft. Wright and Selfridge had just completed 4 ½ circles of the course when suddenly the propeller broke and sent the Flyer into a nose-dive. The plane crashed into the ground, seriously injuring Orville and killing Lieutenant Selfridge. Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge became the first person to die in an airplane crash. “As the aeroplane dashed off the rising track, Lieut. Selfridge waved his hand gayly to a group of army officers and newspaper men and threw back some laughing remarks that were drowned out by the whirl of the propellors. As he swept around Selfridge evidently was enjoying himself thoroughly. It was on the fourth and final lap that the propellor blade broke. The aeroplane took a short and sharp dive and crashed into the field. Dust arose in a yellow pall over the great white man-made bird that had dashed to its death.” New York Times Newspaper
