When I was asked some six months ago to contribute a paper to this Society dealing with the lessons to be learnt from the study of the causes of accidents when flying, I agreed to do so because it seemed to me that a discussion upon this subject could not fail to be of interest and advantage to pilots, constructors and others by bringing before them in collective form the accidents, preventable and otherwise, which have happened, and in particular those which have been investigated by the Accidents Investigation Committee of the Royal Aero Club, on which your Chairman of Council, General Ruck, and several other Fellows and Members of the Aeronautical Society are very useful workers.