CA1171

Accident Review Board Report 
(C. Avis Catalog entry #1171)
(Document ID #615)


PROCEEDINGS OF BOARD OF OFFICERS CONVENED PURSUANT TO 
                                 FOLLOWING ORDERS

                                        _ _ _ _ _ _ _


    Sacramento, California.    November 13, 1919.

SPECIAL ORDERS)
          No. 24     )

    EXTRACT

    *                                        *                                            *                                            *

    1. Under authority contained in Par. 831/2. Army Regulations, 1917, a Board of Officers consisting of
            Captain J. J. France, M.C.,
            1st Lt. J. S. Krull, A.S.A.
            2nd Lt. L. L. Gowans, A.S.A.
            2nd Lt. C. Ridenour, A.S.A.
is appointed at this Post to meet at 2:00 P.M., this date to investigate and report upon the death of 2nd. Lieut. Charles M. Rudd, A.S.A., who was killed in airplane accident near Stockton, Cal., at 7:30 P. M., Wednesday, Nov. 12 1919.

    *                                        *                                            *                                            *

    BY ORDER OF MAJOR ROBERTSON: 
                    T. S. Voss, 
                Captain, Air Service,
                    Adjutant.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

                                    Mather Field, Calif.,
                                    November, 13, 1919.

The Board met pursuant to the above orders at the place of accident Nov. 13, 1919.

Present:  All members.

The above order appointing the Board was read and members of the Board were sworn.

    Mr. Joseph Strmyska was called in, sworn, and testimony taken, which was as follows:

    "There was a fire in a field nearby my farmhouse and right after supper I thought it best to get out there and keep the fire from spreading over into my side of the field.  While doing this I heard something that sounded like an automobile, then noticed it came from the air.  I looked up and saw that it was an airplane.  Three or four minutes following this I heard the crash and ran to the portion of the field where the ship had landed and found that it had crashed into a tree.  I found Lt. Rudd caught in some cross wires by his feet with his head hanging down and breathing very hard.  I pulled him out and laid him down and looked after the other man in the cockpit.  I found that he was pinned down very hard.  Finally I managed to pull him out but the only thing he complained of was his knee.  I laid him down on a blanket and he fell asleep.  When I got back to Lt. Rudd he was dead.  Lt. Rudd apparently lived about twenty minutes."

    Private Antonio A. Salcido was sworn and gave testimony as follows:

    "We left the Presido at 4:15.  The fog was just coming in as we left.  We apparently were lost almost immediately after leaving the Bat at San Francisco and about an hour or so after we started flying we began to see lights on the ground.  I was confident that Lt. Rudd was lost because he was in the air so long and also because he had circled several towns to find out where we were.  Lt. Rudd attempted to land at a small town on the river but apparently decided that the field was too small and went up again.  He flew to Stockton and circled around abour [sic] fifteen minutes, then he flew back and forth around Stockton probably about three quarters of an hour.  He then attempted to land a second time and we crashed."

    When asked if there was any motor trouble he replied in the negative, said that he was certain that the last time he tried to land he idled the motor when at about 500 feet.  He stated that he had been in the air four or five times previously to this.  Stated that he was not conscious of anything after the crash until he came to in a machine about eight o'clock.  When they first attempted to land he said that it was still light enough to see the people on the streets in the town. 

    When asked what his experience was as a mechanic he stated that he was not a mechanic at the field but he had worked in garages for a year and a half previous to enlisting.

    Attached hereto will be found the report of the Medical Officer examining Lieut. Rudd.

                FINDINGS
    After a thorough investigation of all information available the Board finds that Second Lieut. Charles Rudd met his death at a place about one mile and one-half north of Linden, California, at 7:30 P.M., November 12, 1919, as a result of an airplane accident.  The Board further finds that his death was in line of duty and that death was not due to any neglect or misconduct on his own part.

        JOSEPH J. FRANCE,
        Captain, M. C.,
        President

        JAMES S. KRULL,
        1st. Lt., A.S.A.
        Member.

        L. L. GOWANS,
        2nd. Lt., A.S.A.
        Member.

APPROVED:  November 18, 1919.

        C. H. RIDENOUR,
        2nd. Lt., A.S.A.
        Recorder.

        W. A. ROBERTSON,
        Major, Air Service,
        Commanding.



        A TRUE COPY


                T. S. VOSS,  [signed]
                Captain, Air Service.