Interesting article from August 1911 (starts on page 171), by Victor Lougheed (eventually spelled Lockheed):
https://books.google.com/books?id=9...ce=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false
It lists the cause of all heavier-than-air fatalities to that date (58) and has some suggestions for aircraft design to make them safer. It should be noted that while the monoplane design with a covered fuselage was becoming more popular at that point, and appears similar to modern light plane designs, the most popular design to emerge from the soon-to-be fought WW I was the biplane design. Monoplanes of the era had a disconcerting tendency to have the wings collapse.
https://books.google.com/books?id=9...ce=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false
It lists the cause of all heavier-than-air fatalities to that date (58) and has some suggestions for aircraft design to make them safer. It should be noted that while the monoplane design with a covered fuselage was becoming more popular at that point, and appears similar to modern light plane designs, the most popular design to emerge from the soon-to-be fought WW I was the biplane design. Monoplanes of the era had a disconcerting tendency to have the wings collapse.