ABSTRACT
On September 17th … at 4:46 pm, the aeroplane was taken from the shed, moved to the upper end of the field and set on the starting track. Mr. Wright and Lieutenant Selfridge took their places in the machine, and it started at 5:14, circling the field to the left as usual. It had been in the air four minutes and 18 seconds, had circled the field 4½ times and had just crossed the aeroplane shed at the lower end of the field when I heard a report then saw a section of the propeller blade flutter to the ground. I judged the machine at the time was at a height of about 150 feet. It appeared to glide down for perhaps 75 feet, advancing in the meantime about 200 feet. At this point it seemed to me to stop, turn so as to head up the field towards the hospital, rock like a ship in rough water, then drop straight to the ground the remaining 75 feet…
