Albert JewellThere are different variants of Jewell's middle, initial and surname. Contemporary newspapers refer to him as "Albert J. Jewell"; another source (''Aeronautics'' magazine) which may be more reliable, gives his name as "Albert H. Jewell". In addition, while most sources give the spelling of his surname as "Jewell" the variant "Jewel" is found in others. (1886 – October 13, 1913) was an early US aviator who

disappeared An enforced disappearance (or forced disappearance) is the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person by a state or political organization, or by a third party with the authorization, support, or acquiescence of a state or political organiza ...

off

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, on October 13, 1913, ''en route'' to

Oakwood, Staten Island Oakwood is a neighborhood located in east central Staten Island, New York City, near the South Shore. It is bordered by Tysens Lane (north); the Atlantic Ocean (east); Great Kills Park (south); Kensico Street, and Clarke Avenue (west). The neig ...

, in order to take part in ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' American Aerial Derby. No confirmed trace of Jewell or his aircraft was ever recovered. At the time, the press compared his likely fate to that of

Cecil Grace Cecil Stanley Grace (1880 – 22 December 1910) was a pioneer aviator who went missing on a flight across the English Channel in 1910. Family Grace was born in Chile, the son of John William Grace of New York. His uncle was W. R. Grace, a ...

and Edouard Jean Bague, who disappeared during flights over water (in December 1910 and June 1911 respectively).

Air race

''The New York Times'' American Aerial Derby was a race organised by the newspaper to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Orville Wright's first flight on December 17, 1903, in timed circuits, over a 60-mile (97.5 km) course starting and finishing in Oakwood. The competitors were J. Guy Gilpatrick (4th place),

Tony Jannus Antony Habersack Jannus, more familiarly known as Tony Jannus (July 22, 1889 – October 12, 1916), was an early American pilot whose aerial exploits were widely publicized in aviation's pre-World War I period. He flew the first airplane from ...

(last), William S. Luckey (1st prize), Frank Niles (2nd prize) and C. Murvin Wood (3rd prize).

Jewell's final flight

Jewell held a pilot's licence issued by the

Aero Club of America The Aero Club of America was a social club formed in 1905 by Charles Jasper Glidden and Augustus Post, among others, to promote aviation in America. It was the parent organization of numerous state chapters, the first being the Aero Club of New E ...

; at the time of his disappearance, he had been flying for six months and he was an instructor at the Moisant Aviation School, though he had little experience of flights of the distance he was attempting. His last flight was planned to be from the Moisant Aviation School near

Hempstead, Long Island The Town of Hempstead (also known historically as South Hempstead) is the largest of the three Administrative divisions of New York#Town, towns in Nassau County, New York, Nassau County (alongside North Hempstead, New York, North Hempstead and Oys ...

to the Oakwood airfield from which the competitors in the race were due to depart. Jewell was flying a Moisant-Blériot monoplane, a version of the

Blériot XI The Blériot XI is a French aircraft of the pioneer era of aviation. The first example was used by Louis Blériot to make the first flight across the English Channel in a heavier-than-air aircraft, on 25 July 1909. This is one of the most fam ...

built under licence by the Moisant Aeroplane Company,

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

, New York, and, at least according to some reports, powered by a

Gnome Lambda The Gnome 7 Lambda was a French designed, seven-cylinder, air-cooled rotary aero engine that was produced under license in Britain and Germany. Powering several World War I-era aircraft types it was claimed to produce from its capacity of al ...

80 hp

rotary engine The rotary engine is an early type of internal combustion engine, usually designed with an odd number of cylinders per row in a radial configuration. The engine's crankshaft remained stationary in operation, while the entire crankcase and i ...

rather than the more normal

Gnome Omega The Gnome 7 Omega (commonly called the Gnome 50 hp) is a French seven-cylinder, air-cooled aero engine produced by Gnome et Rhône. It was shown at the Paris Aero Salon held in December 1908 and was first flown in 1909. It was the world's ...

, 50 hp. Witnesses observed the aircraft off the south shore of Long Island, apparently being blown out to sea. The captain of a fishing vessel reported seeing an aircraft resembling Jewell's off

Sandy Hook Sandy Hook is a barrier spit in Middletown Township, Monmouth County, New Jersey, United States. The barrier spit, approximately in length and varying from wide, is located at the north end of the Jersey Shore. It encloses the southern en ...

. As Jewell was unable to swim and his only flotation device was the

inner tube An inner tube is an inflatable ring that forms the interior of some pneumatic tires. The tube is inflated with a valve stem, and fits inside of the casing of the tire. The inflated inner tube provides structural support and suspension, while the ...

of a tyre, his chances of surviving a ditching at sea were poor, even if he managed to get clear of the wreckage of his aircraft. An initial rumour that Jewell had been rescued from the sea by a merchant vessel proved to be unfounded.

Searches and discoveries

Extensive searches on land and sea were conducted for Jewell and his aircraft. The Moisant Aeroplane Company sent six motor boats to search for Jewell and several automobiles joined the land search. Several of the aviators present in the New York area took part in these search efforts. On October 15,

and J. Robinson Hall, the race promoter, crashed when attempting to take off in a 70 hp Benoist

tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most common ...

biplane A biplane is a fixed-wing aircraft with two main wings stacked one above the other. The first powered, controlled aeroplane to fly, the Wright Flyer, used a biplane wing arrangement, as did many aircraft in the early years of aviation. While ...

; the aircraft was written off but the only injuries were minor burns and bruises to Hall. Luckey, the winner of the race, planned to conduct a search flight over

Jamaica Bay Jamaica Bay is an estuary on the southern portion of the western tip of Long Island, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The estuary is partially man-made, and partially natural. The bay connects with Lower New York Bay to the west, ...

on October 18. Searchers concentrated on Jamaica Bay and the sea off

Rockaway Point Breezy Point is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens, located on the western end of the Rockaway peninsula, between Rockaway Inlet and Jamaica Bay to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south. The community is run by t ...

where Jewell was last sighted. No signs of Jewell or of the wreckage of his aircraft were found. Several rewards were offered for information which might reveal what accident had befallen Jewell and the location of his remains; $400 by the Aeronautical Society; $300 by the aviator's widow and $250 by the Moisant Aeroplane Company. Despite reports over the following months that Jewell's body had been recovered on at least two separate occasions, none of the human remains in question were positively identified as those of the aviator. On January 4, 1914, a human torso was washed up on the beach at

Edgemere, Queens Edgemere is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens, extending from Beach 32nd to Beach 52nd Street on the Rockaway Peninsula. It contains Rockaway Community Park. Arverne is to the west, and Far Rockaway to the east. Edgemere was ...

, following a storm and was suspected to be Jewell's. However, when called upon to identify the body, his widow excluded that possibility, on the basis of the remnants of clothing on the torso. This casts doubt on a report that a "badly bloated and disfigured body" washed up on

Fire Island Fire Island is the large center island of the outer barrier islands parallel to the South Shore of Long Island, in the U.S. state of New York. Occasionally, the name is used to refer collectively to not only the central island, but also Long ...

on October 25, 1913, was Jewell's.

Air race

Jewell's final flight

Searches and discoveries

See also

Notes

References