Marblehead, Massachusetts – May 7, 1915

     On May 7, 1915, Aviator Clifford L. Webster, and a mechanic identified as “Carman”, were making a test flight over Marblehead of a Burgess airplane which had been built for Vincent Astor.  While over the water of near Marblehead Neck the engine suddenly stopped and the plane crashed into a sea wall on the ocean side of the causeway that connected Marblehead Neck with the rest of the town.   After striking the seawall, the aircraft continued on across the road where both men were pitched out.  Webster suffered a broken arm.  No injuries for the mechanic were reported.     

     Source: The Brattleboro Daily Reformer, (Brattleboro, VT.) “Aviator Was Badly Injured”, May 7, 1915, page 5