On June 12, 1920, Daniel Martin left Omaha, Nebraska with the mail. A strong southwest wind blew him off course. He glided down to get his bearings, but came down too low and at 30 feet above the ground, the wind caught his machine and tossed it over, wrecking it.
Second Assistant Postmaster General Otto Praeger was not forgiving of Martin's error and fired him immediately. Martin argued that he should not have been fired as "I do not think that I have been given a fair trial in as much as I have never been over the route with a map," and asked for reinstatement.
Praeger responded on July 6, 1920, that "you are advised that it will be impossible to reconsider your separation from the service as there can be no excuse for losing direction over a country where there are direct railroad lines."
Praeger ‘s letter to airmail pilot Martin, assuring him that his firing was permanent.
- Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration