Aerospace history is full of tragic events, and we have many items in our collection that are surviving artifacts from these infamous happenings.  For example, on the evening of April 3rd, 1933, the airship the USS Akron crashed into the ocean near New Jersey.  The accident was caused by a severe storm, and resulted in the loss of 73 dead and only 3 survivors.  In our collection, we have some artifacts that are allegedly from the Akron

The metal fragment and wood piece are both proported to be from the USS Akron.  The metal piece was recovered by a sailor on board the USS Falcon.

Perhaps the most famous aviation disaster of the 1930s was the crash and fire of  LZ-129, the Hindenburg, which crash on May 6, 1937 in New Jersey. With the death of 36 people, film of the tragedy was shared around the world, and destroyed the confidence of the public in airship travel.  Our Museum has a relic of this famous queen of the skies. 

Artifacts from the Hindenburg include a fork & turnbuckle, a pully and a piece of fabric, complete with a letter authenticating its provenance. 

On August 8, 1927, 15 aircraft drew starting positions for the Dole Air Race from Oakland, California to Honolulu, Hawaii. By August 19, five aircraft were no longer competing, five crashed, three disappeared, and ten participants were dead.  One of these aircraft was the a Tremaine Humming Bird, Spirit of John Rodger, that encountered a fog bank and fatally crashed into an ocean cliff at Point Loma on the way to Oakland, killing George W.D. Covell and R.S. Waggener.   A fragment of their Tremaine Humming Bird, Spirit of John Rodgers, is currently at the Museum.

The Tremaine Hummingbird on North Island before and after its fatal flight. 

The artifact from the Hummingbird in our collection reads: "“Lt. Covell Lt. Waggener Low Wing Monoplane. Hawaiian Entry No. 13. Wings 13 ft. From Ground. 13 Instruments On Dashboard. … Crashed At Point Loma 7:13 A.M. 8/20/27”

Our collection holds several other artifacts that tell sad tales, and below are just a few of them:

Photograph of (left to right) pop culture icon Will Rogers, Alaskan musher Leonard Seppala, aviator Wiley Post, and bush pilot Joe Crosson next to Post's Lockheed Model 9-E Orion monoplane on a floatplane dock on the Chena River near Fairbanks, Alaska; Post and Rogers would die shortly after in a plane crash near Point Barrow, Alaska; Date: August, 1935.

This sign that reads "Danger of Death, Do Not Touch Wires" in French found a home in our collection.

Here is the death certificate of famous Jack Frye, the TWA president that made the airline famous.  He was killed by a drunk driver in 1959.

Our collection also holds a seat belt from the doomed Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 182, which crashed in San Diego in 1978, killing 144 people.

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