on january 12, 1915, dargue and an enlisted spotter encountered strong winds over san jose bay. dargue lost control attempting to avoid the cliffs on corregidor, but was able to recover sufficiently to crash-land the plane tail first in the bay, causing a total loss. because s.c. no. 17 was the only aircraft left in the philippines, the philippine aviation school was closed and dargue transferred back to san diego, california.