List of Accidents and Incidents Involving Military Aircraft Before 1925 - 1920

1920

1 February

World War I American ace (twelve victories) Field Eugene Kindley is killed in a crash at Kelly Field near San Antonio, Texas, during a demonstration flight for General John J. Pershing. A control cable snaps on the Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5 biplane Kindley is flying, AS-8137, of the 96th Aero Squadron, he stalls, falls from an altitude of 100 feet. Kindley Air Force Base, Bermuda, is later named for him. Other sources give his crash date as both 2 February and 3 February.

17 March

Nieuport 28C-1, U.S. Navy BuNo A5794, crashes on turret on takeoff from USS Arizona. Obtained from Army after Armistice.

19 April

Two aircraft written-off in separate accidents at Bolling Field, Washington, D.C.

22 April

Three more aircraft are wrecked at Bolling Field, Washington, D.C.

22 May

Bristol F.2C Badger partial prototype, completed in 1919 for aerodynamic tests, using Armstrong-Siddeley Puma engine, but only the wings and undercarriage of the Badger design (and locally referred to as the Badger X - for experimental) crashes this date. It is entered on the civil register as K110, AFTER it has already been written off.

19 June

U.S. Navy D class blimp, A4450, is destroyed by fire at the Goodyear Wingfoot Lake Airship Base, Suffield Township, Portage County, Ohio.

5 July

Dundalk Flying Field, opened in Baltimore, Maryland in 1920, is almost immediately renamed Logan Field when, on this date, Army Lt. Patrick H. Logan is fatally injured after his Nieuport 28, F6506, nicknamed the "Red Devil", of the 104th Observation Squadron, crashes at the airport's inaugural air show following a stall/spin. In response to the tragedy, the airfield is renamed in his honor, with the announcement of the new name being made at the closing ceremonies of the airshow during which he died.

12 August

Lt. William Calvin Maxwell, 28, of the 3d Aero Squadron, Camp Stotsenberg in Luzon, Philippines, a native of Atmore, Alabama, is killed in an aviation crash in the Philippines. While on a flight from Camp Stotsenberg to Manila, engine trouble forced Lt. Maxwell to attempt to land his DH-4 in a sugarcane field. Maneuvering to avoid a group of children playing below, he struck a flagpole hidden by the tall sugarcane and was killed instantly. On the recommendation of his former commanding officer, Maj. Roy C. Brown, Montgomery Air Intermediate Depot, Montgomery, Alabama, was renamed Maxwell Field on 8 November 1922.

2 October

U.S. Navy Lt. Cdr. William Merrill Corry, Jr. (5 October 1889 – 6 October 1920), of Quincy, Florida, designated Naval Aviator No. 23 in March 1916, while on a flight from Long Island, New York, with another pilot, the aircraft crashes, with Corry earning the Medal of Honor "for heroic service in attempting to rescue a brother officer from a flame-enveloped airplane near Hartford, Connecticut. On 2 October 1920, an airplane in which Lieutenant Commander Corry was a passenger crashed and burst into flames. He was thrown 30 feet clear of the plane and, though injured, rushed back to the burning machine and endeavored to release the pilot. In so doing he sustained serious burns, from which he died four days later." In 1923, Corry Field, a new satellite airfield for Naval Air Station Pensacola, is named in his honor. Three U.S. Navy destroyers have been named USS Corry, a Clemson-class in 1921, a Gleaves-class in 1941, and a Gearing-class, in 1945.