AERONAUTICS: Killed in Action

Flying was the business of Mazel M. (“Merry”) Merrill, director of the Curtiss Flying Service, and Edwin M. Ronne, manager of the Buffalo Airport. On their engagement pad, last week, was the item: “Take Lindbergh’s orange-colored Falcon from Buffalo to Curtiss Field, Long Island.” It was, ostensibly, a simple and pleasant item in their business. But they were killed while performing it. A fog, a thickly-wooded hillside near Milford, Pa., a crash into the treetops, a completely demolished Falcon and two burned bodies told the story, crudely.

The search to discover these facts kept 48 planes busy for two days. The keen eyes of Charles S. (“Casey”) Jones, president of the Curtiss Flying Service, were the first to spot the wreckage—an ugly hole in the dark green woods below.

The significance of the tragedy is that Merrill and Ronne were well-seasoned pilots and that Lindbergh’s Falcon was one of the most efficient of modern planes.