What was the first plane crash?

1908 -- First Fatality in a Powered Aircraft On Sept. 17, 1908, a modified Wright Brothers aircraft crashed during a demonstration at Fort Myer, Va., seriously injuring pilot Orville Wright and killing the observer, U.S. Army Lt. Thomas E. Selfridge.



The first fatal crash of a powered airplane occurred on September 17, 1908, at Fort Myer, Virginia. During a demonstration flight for the U.S. Army, a modified Wright Military Flyer piloted by Orville Wright suffered a mechanical failure when a propeller blade split and hit a guy-wire. The aircraft plummeted from an altitude of approximately 75 feet. Orville Wright survived with severe injuries, including a broken leg and ribs, but his passenger, U.S. Army Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge, suffered a fractured skull and died shortly after, becoming the first person to die in a powered aircraft accident. This tragedy led to the invention of the first aviation safety helmet and underscored the need for more rigorous structural testing. Interestingly, the very first unpowered aircraft fatality occurred earlier, in 1896, when German aviation pioneer Otto Lilienthal died after his glider stalled and crashed from a height of about 50 feet.

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