Lewis Cassidy Rockwell (23 November 1884 – 28 September 1912) was a United States Army Second Lieutenant who died in an aircraft crash.
Rockwell was the fourth commissioned officer of the United States Army to meet death in an aviation accident.
[8] The plane in question had been rebuilt thrice and logged over one thousand flights; it was made of wood, wire, cloth, and glue.
Coupled with eyewitness accounts, the investigatory board determined that pilot error was the cause: Rockwell misjudged the plane's altitude upon descent and could not recover from the dive.
[1][10] Rockwell Field, located on North Island in San Diego, California, originally called the Signal Corps Aviation School, was renamed in his honor on 20 July 1917.