August 9, 1920 – Chicago, Illinois
Jewett took off from the College Park, Maryland airfield at 11:10 a.m. in de Havilland #110 two days after being hired. At that time, pilots were required to practice a series of takeoffs and landings before being entrusted with the mail.
Jewett flew up in a southeasterly direction from the hangars, got in trouble and crashed. Jewett filed this report with his superiors. "I got 10' off the field, when the motor cut. Ship was headed for swamp and woods dead ahead. Closed throttle and opened again in attempt to get response. Motor responded, put ship in bank and turned to make 180° turn to set ship back in field. In middle of turn, motor quit cold at 40' off ground, worked throttle, no response, controls slack, could not flatten out before hitting ground."
In this report, written July 23, 1920, Alfred Jewett tries to explain the difficulties he was having with his aircraft before he was forced to make a crash landing.
- Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration
