William Andrews Clark, III |
| Posted 2010-11-21 by Pat R |
| Wickenburg (AZ) Graphic Friday, May 20, 1932, p 1:1 & p 5:4 Fatal Crash Costs Two Lives Near Cottonwood William A Clark, III, 36 years old, grandson of the late Sen. William A Clark, Montana Copper magnate, and Jack Lynch, 43, former instructor of Col. Charles A Lindbergh, were killed instantly at 2:30 o'clock May 15, when their plane crashed on the Windmill ranch two miles north of Cottonwood. Residents watching the plane said it turned over into a tailspin from an altitude of 2,000 feet while on a flight out of the Verde Valley Air Lines, Inc., field at Clemenceau. The plane evidently stalled into the spin because Clark at the time was receiving instruction in blind flying from Lynch. The fact that Clark had a cover over his cockpit may have brought about the crash, air pilots said. The plane crashed on its nose in a flat wash, showing that it never pulled out of the spin, witnesses reported. It did not catch fire. After seeing the plane vanish, Cottonwood residents telephoned the Clemenceau port where Wilbur Womack, commercial pilot, took off on a searching flight. He located the plane and then circled over the wreckage as a guiding signal for a ground party of 150 men coming up from Cottonwood. The party recovered the bodies and, wrapping them in parachutes, carried them six miles to a highway on one of the plane's wings. Pilots said Lynch had more blind flying hours than any aviator in the world. Lynch took up residence in Clarkdale three months ago, coming from Los Angeles, where he was instructor in blind flying for transport pilots. He had been Clark's personal pilot and acquaintance for the past five years and was associated with him in the Verde air lines. This corporation was formed to operate from Douglas to Las Vegas, Nev., but the franchise for the route had not yet been granted. It is not known at this time what affect Mr Clark's death may take on the project. Clark was well-known in Arizona, having operated the Cord and Auburn automobile agency in Phoenix up to a year ago. He also was an official in the Pilot-Ray Lamp corporation. He took up residence in Clarkdale eight months ago. He is survived by his father, William A Clark Jr, heavy stockholder in the United Verde Copper company, his widow, a son and a daughter. Lynch is survived by his widow, a son and a daughter. Both men recently stimulated interest in aviation when they conducted a number of aerial events in connection with the dedication of the Clemenceau airport. Both bodies were to be sent to Los Angeles. W.A. Clark Jr, head of the vast Clark mining interests, sent from the Atlantic ocean a message of suggestion regarding funeral services for his son, William A Clark, III. The father, on a liner bound for France, asked that the rites be held from his home in Los Angeles or from an Episcopal church, with interment in the family vault at Hollywood mausoleum See Also: Find A Grave |
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