1919 — July 21, Dirigible Wingfoot fire/crash (3) into bank (10) skylight, Chicago, IL — 13

— 13 Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). 1982, p. 367.
— 13 Mt. Pleasant Daily News, IA. “13th Blimp Victim Dies.” 7-24-1919, p. 1.
— 13 O’Brien and Benedict. “1919, July 21: Dirigible (Balloon) Crash,” Chicago Public Library
— 2 Wingfoot passengers.
— 1 Wingfoot mechanic.
–10 Bank employees.
— 13 Safety Engineering. “Peace Perils from the Sky,” Vol. 38, No. 2, August, 1919, p. 70.
— 12 Galveston Daily News, TX. “In Passing of Another Eventful Year…,” 1 Jan 1920, p. 16.

Narrative Information

O’Brien and Benedict: “On July 21, 1919 the Goodyear dirigible Wingfoot, crashed into the Illinois Trust and Savings Building at 231 South LaSalle Street in Chicago.

“The craft had been conveying passengers between Grant Park and the White City Amusement Park on the South Side, when it caught fire at an altitude of 1,200 feet above downtown.” (O’Brien and Benedict)

“Just minutes before the bank closed for the day, the dirigible, powered by 95,000 cubic feet of very flammable hydrogen, suddenly crashed to the earth. The Wing Foot tore into the iron supports holding the glass skylight of building in place and the two engines and gasoline tanks crashed to the floor of the bank. Glass and steel rained down onto the employees, along with a deadly shower of fuel. The rotunda was instantly consumed in flames, trapping tellers and stenographers inside. The resulting fire cut off all hope of escape and many were burned beyond recognition. The intense heat made rescue work virtually impossible for hours and 12 people died and many more were injured.

“The pilot and chief mechanic parachuted to safety. Another passenger parachuted, broke both legs and died later. The other occupants of the balloon descended with the craft to their deaths. The City Council immediately proposed regulations banning the flying of flammable gas balloons over the populated parts of the city.” (O’Brien and Benedict)

“Two passengers, a mechanic and 10 employees of the Illinois Trust and Savings Bank died.”
(O’Brien and Benedict)

The cause of the tragedy was determined to be static electricity and a rush of air from the propellers. The Goodyear company paid for the care of the victims and the bank chipped in $1,000 for the family of anyone who died in the disaster. The bank itself re-opened for business the very next day.

Safety Engineering: “On July 21, thirteen persons were killed in the offices of the bank, and a score or more injured, when a small dirigible, owned by the Goodrich Tire & Rubber Company, making a flight over the city, caught fire and dropped, crashing through the skylight of the building. The blimp carried five pas¬sengers, two or three of whom were in¬stantly killed. Nine employees of the bank were either burned to death or crushed under the motors of the airship.

“The gasoline tanks exploded, wrecking the interior of the bank and setting fire to it. Blazing gasoline sprayed on the clothes of the trapped workers.

“It is a commentary upon the “Safety First” measures of the Chicago fire de¬partment that many of the bank employees owe their lives to the prompt response of the department to the gen¬eral alarm which was sent in as soon as the accident occurred.” (“Peace Perils From the Sky,” Safety Engineering, Vol. XXXVIII (38), No. 2, Aug, 1919, p. 70.)

Newspapers

July 22: “Chicago, July 22. – Twelve dead and twenty-six injured was the final count today of casualties in Chicago’s most modern tragedy – the fall of an aircraft through the skylight of a metropolitan business building. Late yesterday a 160 foot dirigible fell blazing into the counting room of the Illinois Trust and Savings company.

“Thee members of the ‘Wingfoot’ express and nine employees of the bank were among the dead. Most of them were burned to death when the gas bag with its heavy fuselage burst through steel and plate glass and spread burning gasoline in all directions. A score of investigations headed by the coroner and the state’s attorney opened today. Seventeen men, mostly employees of the Goodyear Rubber company owners of the ‘Wingfoot’ were held for examination….The seventeen men held as inquest witnessed included W. C. Young, head of the Rubber company’s aeronautical department and sixteen subordinates, machinists and the like here to care for the ‘Wingfoot.’….

Twelfth Victim Dies.

“As a coroner’s jury began investigation here today of the first aeronautical accident of the kind in which a falling ‘blimp’ wrecked the interior of a metropolitan business house, the list of deaths was increased to twelve. Milton G. Norton, newspaper photographer aboard the Goodyear company’s ‘Wingfoot’…died of injuries today. Norton descended in a parachute, landing heavily in Chicago’s ‘Wall Street,’ LaSalle street. On recovering his senses his first words were , ‘Where are my plates”’
The List of Dead.

“The list of dead is as follows: [we break paragraph-form list into individual lines]

Carpenter, Jacob, 16, bank messenger;
Berger, Helen, bank stenographer;
Davenport, Earl H., publicity man in the ‘blimp;’
Florence, Maria, bank clerk;
Gallagher, Mary, bank stenographer;
Miles, Irene, bank stenographer;
Meyer, Evelyn, bank stenographer;
Munzer, Edwin, bank clerk;
Otto, Carl, bank telegrapher; Scanlan, Joseph, bank messenger;
Weaver, Carl, mechanic, in the dirigible, Akron, O.,
Morton [Norton?], Milton G. Herald and Examiner photographer.

“The dirigible sailed over the city at a height of 500 feet. The course of the big silver bag was watched by thousands in the streets. The straining thousands saw a flicker of flame at the rear of the bag, then four black dots dropping over the sides, then the crumpling and twisting dirigible slid downward, overtaking the parachuted dots and crashing into the building.

Chose Easiest Victim.

“Of all the buildings in Chicago’s business district the ‘blimp’ chose the one likely victim for such an accident. The bank building, a two story structure, squatting among the giants of Chicago’s financial district, was the only one with a skylight of such proportions.

“The heavy machinery of the dirigible brought the bag down with such force that steel supports for the heavy glass were snapped like matches. Workers in the bank – it was after customers’ hours – saw a shadow over the skylight. There was a crash, then the room was filled with roaring flame. Six were dead almost instantly. Others, singed by the terrific heat of the burning gasoline fought blindly for the few exits. Workers on the balcony rushed to the windows and a few attempted the short jump to the street.

“The flames were controlled only after the gasoline had been burned from the floor.

Pilot Saw The Danger.

“J. S. Boettner, pilot of the ‘Wingfoot,’ was the first to see the danger. ‘Over the top’ he yelled to his companions and slid over the side. His parachute opened nicely and he landed on a roof. Other occupants followed him. Earl H. Davenport, publicity manager, was caught before he could clear the machine He was carried down by the plunging bag and hurled through a portion of the roofing adjoining the skylight. Another occupant suffered a fractured leg and internal injuries when he alighted in the street.

“With hastily gathered furniture the bank reopened today. A loss of $50,000 in bonds, supposed to have been burned, was announced. President John J. Mitchell hesitated to estimate the amount of property loss involved….The original fittings were seared in a moment as burning gas and gasoline almost instantly turned metal to a white, molten mass and cracked the marble pillars of the big room.
Will Pay Damages.

“Mitchell indicated the Goodyear company had offered to settle damages and ‘do whatever was right’ for families of the victims.

“The dirigible cost $100,000. It was built in Chicago at the hangar of an amusement park. Its trips yesterday were complimentary to army officers and newspaper men. It made several short cruises successfully.

“It was almost 5 o’clock when the final trip began. Aboard were six men. At an altitude of 500 feet a tiny flame was seen to spurt from the rear and sides. Almost instantly a figure slid over the side of the fuselage and a parachute opened over him. That was Pilot Boettner. Others followed. The plump, silver bag buckled and dropped so swiftly as to overtake two of the hesitating parachutes. One was dragged down to the bank building, another was set fire and the others were allowed to settle.

To Regulate Flights.

“The city council was in session when the accident occurred. Immediately a resolution was adopted calling for immediate enactment of an ordinance regulating aircraft flights over the city.

“Pilot Boettner at first blames static for the burning of his machine. Later he said sparks from the rotary motor – an experiment for ‘blimps’ – may have set the gas bag afire. The motors, he said, were intended to ‘pull’ instead of drive a machine. Attached as they were, he said, the flames may have been blown against the fabric. The dirigible was inspected after each of three short flights during the afternoon and a theory that the fire might have been smoldering for some time was dismissed.
Nine in Bank Killed.

“Nine employees of the Illinois Trust and Savings bank were dead today…two hundred clerks, bending over their ledgers yesterday in the daily rush to close their books thought of nothing but their prosaic daily labors….

“Those who died in the bank were pinned by the heavy motors or framework of the ‘Wingfoot.’….It was a matter of minutes from the time the shadow floated across the light until the [unclear word] bank building had been turned into a furnace and men and women had perished….” (United Press. “Thousands Witness Air Tragedy.” Daily Gazette, Sterling, IL. 7-22-1919, p. 1.)

July 24: “Chicago, July 24. – Marcus Callopy, teller of the foreign department in the Illinois Trust & Savings Bank, died at 5:30 p.m. yesterday at the St. Luke’s hospital, the thirteenth death from the burning of the dirigible ‘Wingfoot’ over the loop last Monday and the plunge of the engines and blazing wreckage into the bank. Callopy was covered with blazing gasoline when the tanks of the airship exploded in the bank.” (Mt. Pleasant Daily News, IA. “13th Blimp Victim Dies.” 7-24-1919, p. 1.)

Sources

Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1982.

Galveston Daily News, TX. “In Passing of Another Eventful Year, Its History,” 1-1-1920, 16. Accessed at: http://www.newspaperarchive.com/FullPagePdfViewer.aspx?img=42334478

Mt. Pleasant Daily News, IA. “13th Blimp Victim Dies.” 7-24-1919, p. 1. Accessed 6-30-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/mount-pleasant-daily-news-jul-24-1919-p-1/

O’Brien, Ellen and Lyle Benedict (Reference Librarians). “1919, July 21: Dirigible (Balloon) Crash,” Chicago Public Library. Accessed 12-26-2008 at: http://web.archive.org/web/20060927013551/http://www.chipublib.org/004chicago/disasters/dirigible_crash.html

Safety Engineering, Vol. 38, No’s. 1-6, July-Dec, 1919. NY: Safety Press, Inc., 1919. Google digitized at: http://books.google.com/books?id=BSHOAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA1&dq=Safety+Engineering+Vol+38&lr=0

United Press. “Thousands Witness Air Tragedy.” Daily Gazette, Sterling, IL. 7-22-1919, p. 1. Accessed 6-30-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/sterling-daily-gazette-jul-22-1919-p-1/