assigned at Marshall Field, Fort Riley, Kansas, had departed Rodgers Field, Pittsburgh's first municipal airport, in Douglas O-25A, 30-186. 1931 18 January "Electrical trouble in the insulation of their D.H. plane developing suddenly and without warning almost proved the deaths of two Brooks Field officers, Major C. E. Baker, Surgeon, and Lieut. Richard E. Cobb, Supply Officer, 52nd School Squadron, on Saturday, January 18th, as the two officers were making a cross-country flight from Brooks Field to Matagorda Island for the week end. Smoke pouring from the overheated insulation wiring first gave indication of serious mechanical trouble, and Lieut. Cobb, the pilot, hastened to land. Blinded and almost overcome by smoke, however, he was unable to make a proper landing, and the airplane crashed to the ground, rendering his passenger and himself unconscious. To aggravate a situation already precarious, the gasoline tank developed a leak shortly after the plane had landed. When Major Baker and Lieut. Cobb regained consciousness, they found that had another five minutes elapsed, they would have become trapped in the flames that completely consumed the airplane. Major Baker sustained a badly lacerated forehead, and Lieut. Cobb a wrenched back. Officers of Brooks Field who investigated the accident were unable to determine the source of the electrical trouble." Aeromarine DH-4M-2T, 22-1142, was destroyed. Joe Baugher and the Aviation Archeology sites both list the accident date as 17 January. 4 February The first of three Blackburn Iris III flying boats, S238, of No. 209 Squadron RAF, based at RAF Mount Batten, crashes into the waters of Batten Bay, Plymouth Sound, Devon, U.K., while on firing practice, when the mirror-flat surface causes the pilot to misjudge his landing approach with the result that the three-engined biplane strikes the water, explodes and sinks. Nine of twelve aboard are killed, including Wing Commander C. G. Acker, "who had a splendid war record." Flying Officer F. K. Wood is recovered alive but dies soon afterward of his injuries. Lt. M. H. Ely is rescued with serious injuries, while Flying Officer C. Ryley is not badly hurt. Of eight enlisted men aboard, all but one were missing and assumed trapped in the overturned hull. Corporal W. M. Barry was unhurt. Divers are sent down to try to recover the bodies. 7 February Sole Boeing XP-15, (Boeing Model 202), NX270V, c/n 1151, accepted by the U.S.Army for testing at Wright Field but never actually