Hometown: San Francisco, CA
Branch: U.S. Army
Unit: Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corps
Date of Sacrifice: September 17, 1908 - Fort Myer, VA 
Age: 26 
Conflict: No declared conflict

At the very dawn of mechanized flight, the name Thomas E. Selfridge is found alongside some of the most famous names in American history. Selfridge graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point, ranking 31st in the Class of 1903. Ranking first among those 1903 cadets was future general Douglas MacArthur.

After graduating, Selfridge received his Army commission in the Field Artillery. But his passion was for the emerging field of aeronautics, which the Army was only beginning to explore.

In January of 1907, young Lieutenant Selfridge volunteered his services to Orville and Wilber Wright. Four years earlier the brothers and their “Wright Flyer” had achieved the first successful controlled, sustained flight of a powered aircraft—near Kittyhawk, North Carolina. The Wright brothers turned down Selfridge’s offer, preferring only permanent assistants.

Later that spring, Selfridge met Dr. Alexander Graham Bell, inventor of the telephone. Bell was also experimenting with powered flight and had established the new Aerial Experiment Association (AEA), inviting Selfridge to be one of the original five members. Selfridge designed the Association’s first airplane, Aerodrome Number One, later nicknamed “Redwing” because of the red silk used on its wings.

Bell was so impressed with the eager, intelligent young Lieutenant, he asked President Theodore Roosevelt to have Selfridge assigned as a military observer of a flight demonstration being planned. In 1908, Selfridge was assigned to the U.S. Army Signal Corps, Aeronautical Division at Fort Myer, Virginia, where he designed and flew dirigibles.

Lieutenant Selfridge never had an opportunity to fly his “Redwing,” but did pilot Aerodrome Number Two, nicknamed “Whitewing,” designed by AEA colleague Thomas Baldwin. Selfridge became the first U.S. military officer to fly solo in a powered flying machine.

In September of 1908, Orville Wright was preparing to demonstrate his flying machine to Army officials at Fort Myer. The Wright brothers had signed a contract with the U.S. government and set out to prove that their new plane could hold two people flying at 40 mph and remain in the air for 125 miles.

A fellow officer convinced Selfridge to be Orville Wright’s passenger in the demonstration, though Wright suspected that Selfridge was acting beyond his Army observation responsibilities—and was working secretly to gather information as a competitor.

For the demonstration flight on September 17 of 1908, the craft was outfitted with an elongated propeller that had not been previously tested. Vibration caused the propeller to strike a guidewire and tear it from the rudder. The propeller broke, and the aircraft crashed to the ground from a height of around 100 feet.

Orville Wright broke several ribs and suffered a broken leg but recovered after being hospitalized for months. Selfridge, however, fractured his skull and died later that evening.

History records that Lieutenant Thomas E. Selfridge has the distinction of being the first military officer to pilot a motorized airplane. He also has the tragic distinction of being the first person killed in a powered aircraft accident.

The fatal crash occurred just fifty yards from the west gate of Arlington National Cemetery, where Selfridge was buried with full military honors a week later (Section 3, Lot 2158).

Listen to the Grateful Nation Project recording of Lt. Selfridge’s story on Our American Stories podcast >

Sources
National Aviation Hall of Fame: Selfridge, Thomas Etholen
U.S. Air Force: Lt. Thomas Etholen Selfridge
History. net—The First Airplane Fatality: February ’01 American History Feature
K. Daniel Glover: The Tragic Tale of Thomas Selfridge
Mount Clemens Public Library Local History Sketches: Lt. Thomas E. Selfridge
Burial Site: Find a Grave