<P> On September 17, Army lieutenant Thomas Selfridge rode along as his passenger, serving as an official observer . A few minutes into the flight at an altitude of about 100 feet (30 m), a propeller split and shattered, sending the Flyer out of control . Selfridge suffered a fractured skull in the crash and died that evening in the nearby Army hospital, becoming the first airplane crash fatality . Orville was badly injured, suffering a broken left leg and four broken ribs . Twelve years later, after he suffered increasingly severe pains, X-rays revealed the accident had also caused three hip bone fractures and a dislocated hip . The brothers' sister Katharine, a school teacher, rushed from Dayton to Virginia and stayed by Orville's side for the seven weeks of his hospitalization . She helped negotiate a one - year extension of the Army contract . A friend visiting Orville in the hospital asked, "Has it got your nerve?" "Nerve?" repeated Orville, slightly puzzled . "Oh, do you mean will I be afraid to fly again? The only thing I'm afraid of is that I can't get well soon enough to finish those tests next year ." </P> <P> Deeply shocked and upset by the accident, Wilbur determined to make even more impressive flight demonstrations; in the ensuing days and weeks he set new records for altitude and duration . In January 1909 Orville and Katharine joined him in France, and for a time they were the three most famous people in the world, sought after by royalty, the rich, reporters and the public . The kings of Great Britain, Spain and Italy came to see Wilbur fly . </P> <P> The Wrights traveled to Pau, in the south of France, where Wilbur made many more public flights, giving rides to a procession of officers, journalists and statesmen--and his sister Katharine on February 15 . He trained two French pilots, then transferred the airplane to the French company . In April the Wrights went to Italy where Wilbur assembled another Flyer, giving demonstrations and training more pilots . An Italian cameraman Federico Valle climbed aboard and filmed the first motion picture from an airplane . </P> <P> After their return to the U.S., the brothers and Katharine were invited to the White House where President Taft bestowed awards upon them . Dayton followed up with a lavish two - day homecoming celebration . In July 1909 Orville, with Wilbur assisting, completed the proving flights for the U.S. Army, meeting the requirements of a two - seater able to fly with a passenger for an hour at an average of speed of 40 miles an hour (64 km / h) and land undamaged . They sold the airplane to the Army's Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corps for $30,000 (which included a $5,000 bonus for exceeding the speed specification). Wilbur climaxed an extraordinary year in early October when he flew at New York City's Hudson - Fulton celebrations, circling the Statue of Liberty and making a 33 - minute flight up and down the Hudson River alongside Manhattan in view of up to one million New Yorkers . These flights solidly established the fame of the Wright brothers in America . </P>

Who made the first controlled flight in an aeroplane