No cockpit voice recorder or flight data recorder existed in 1908. The crash was investigated through eyewitness accounts and physical examination of the wreckage. During a demonstration flight at Fort Myer, Virginia, a propeller blade fractured mid-flight and struck a bracing wire, causing the tail to collapse. The aircraft nosed over and crashed from approximately 75 feet. Orville Wright was seriously injured; Lt. Selfridge became the first fatality in powered aviation history. The Wrights later redesigned the aircraft to prevent future structural failures.