d the air-craft buckled up and fell
to the ground. A large piece of the lower left wing, composing the whole
of the front spar between the fuselage and the first upright, was picked
up at least 100 yards from the spot where the air-craft struck the
ground.

"5. The fall of the air-craft was broken considerably by the trees, to
such an extent that the portion of the fuselage surrounding the seats
was practically undamaged.

"6. Neither the pilot nor passenger was strapped in.

"Opinion. The Committee is of opinion that the failure of the air-craft
was due to inherent structural weakness.

"Since that portion of the air-craft in which the pilot and passenger
were seated was undamaged, it is conceivable their lives might have been
saved had they been strapped in."

This occasion was not the only time when the Accidents Investigation
Committee recommended the advisability of the airman being strapped to
his seat. But many airmen absolutely refuse to wear a belt, just as many
cyclists cannot bear to have their feet made fast to the pedals of their
cycles by using toe-clips.

Mention of toe-clips brings us to other accidents which sometimes befall
airmen. As we have seen in a previous chapter, Mr. Hawker's accident in
Ireland was due to his foot slipping over the rudder bar of his machine.
It is thought that the disaster to Mr. Pickles' machine on "Aerial
Derby" day in 1913 was due to the same cause, and on one occasion Mr.
Brock was in great danger through his foot slipping on the rudder bar
while he was practising some evolutions at the London Aerodome. Machines
are generally flying at a very fast rate, and if the pilot loses control
of the machine when it is near the ground the chances are that the
aeroplane crashes to earth before he can right it. Both Mr. Hawker and
Mr. Pickles were flying low at the time of their accidents, and so their
machines were smashed; fortunately Mr. Brock was comparatively high up
in the air, and though his machine rocked about and banked in an ominous
manner, yet he was able to gain control just in the nick of time.

To prevent accidents of this kind the rudder bars could be fitted with
pedals to which the pilot's feet could be secured by toe-clips, as on
bicycle pedals. Indeed, some makers of air-craft have already provided
pedals with toe-clips for the rudder bar. Probably some safety device
such as this will soon be made compulsory on all machines.

We have already remarked that ce