@chubachus / chubachus.tumblr.com
Spectators tending to either pilot Orville Wright or passenger Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge moments after the crash of the Wright Military Flyer at Fort Myer, Virginia, 1908. Selfridge, who wasn't wearing any protective gear, died from a fractured skull, becoming the first powered airplane crash fatality. Orville Wright suffered severe injuries but survived. Animated stereoview.
A Thaddeus Lowe balloon named United States aloft at the corner of 6th Avenue and 59th Street, New York City, 1859. The balloon looks as though it is rising out of a temporary stadium made up of wooden bleachers. The address seems to put the event in Central Park or adjacent to it. The man that is visible in the balloon's basket might be Thaddeus Lowe himself. This is the earliest photograph that I have come across that undisputedly shows a manned balloon in flight.
