'Now a word in regard to the fatal accident. The circumstances
are these: The ascension was given to entertain a military
company in which were many of Maloney's friends, and he had told
them he would give the most sensational flight they ever heard
of. As the balloon was rising with the aeroplane, a guy rope
dropping switched around the right wing and broke the tower that
braced the two rear wings and which also gave control over the
tail. We shouted Maloney that the machine was broken, but he
probably did not hear us, as he was at the same time saying,
"Hurrah for Montgomery's airship," and as the break was behind
him, he may not have detected it. Now did he know of the
breakage or not, and if he knew of it did he take a risk so as
not to disappoint his friends? At all events, when the machine
started on its flight the rear wings commenced to flap (thus
indicating they were loose), the machine turned on its back, and
settled a little faster than a parachute. When we reached
Maloney he was unconscious and lived only thirty minutes. The
only mark of any kind on him was a scratch from a wire on the
side of his neck. The six attending physicians were puzzled at
the cause of his death. This is remarkable for a vertical
descent of over 2,000 feet.'

The flights were brought to an end by the San Francisco
earthquake in April, 1906, which, Montgomery states, 'Wrought
such a disaster that I had to turn my attention to other
subjects and let the aeroplane rest for a time.' Montgomery
resumed experiments in 1911 in California, and in October of
that year an accident brought his work to an end. The report in
the American Aeronautics says that 'a little whirlwind caught
the machine and dashed it head on to the ground; Professor