11 March 1914

Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.4 numbered 204 crashed on Salisbury Plain on 11 March 1914 when its rudder failed, killing its crew of two. The subsequent enquiry suggested that the rudder shaft had become crystallized and had snapped, one of the first suggestions of metal fatigue. This raised sufficient doubt regarding the safety of the B.E.3/4 rudder for a new unit to be developed and fitted to the remaining machines with commendable rapidity.