French pilot making an emergency landing in a tree after an unsuccessful attack on a German Zeppelin near Brussels, 1915

French pilot making an emergency landing in a tree after an unsuccessful attack on a German Zeppelin near Brussels, 1915.

This photograph was published today 108 years ago, on June 27, 1915, in the newspaper the Omaha Daily Bee. The photograph was titled 'A War Aeroplane "Up A Tree"', with the following description attached: ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ "This remarkable photograph, taken recently in France, shows a military biplane, which was flying low and failed to clear a copse of trees. The aeroplane caught the tree tops by its lower plane, its momentum causing the tail plane to rise in the odd position here seen, which suggests that it had fallen headon into the trees. The pilot can be seen on his way (...) and below is an officer, who has climbed a tree to render assistance." In the beginning of the First World War, there were many cases of pilots not being issued parachutes, as it was feared their presence would be an easy and tempting escape route when in danger. There was scarcely any room for the large parachute in the cockpit either, plus its extra weight negatively impacted the plane's flight.

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