OTT, Gene Richard

The Wickenburg Sun, Wickenburg, AZ July 12, 1945, p. 1 Luke Field Pilot Is Killed Near Congress When Parachute Fails Flight Officer-Gene Richard Ott, 22-year old Minneapolis youth flying a P-38 out of Luke Field, near Phoenix, crashed to his death Saturday evening some 25 miles northwest of Congress when he bailed out and his parachute, ripped as he left the plane, failed to open. The plan crashed and burned on Teres Almas mountain, along the Santa Maria river. The body of the pilot was found Sunday noon about three miles from the demolished plane. Tom Madrill, herding cattle on his ranch, saw the pilot bail out and plummet to the earth, with the plane flying on and crashing a few minutes later. Madrill hurried home and got his car, picked up John and Audrey Meyers who notified Arizona High Patrolman Dick Underwood. The latter radioed news of the crash to patrol headquarters in Phoenix. The men went as far as they could by car then took off on horseback in search of the pilot and plane, finding the latter in thousands of fragments, nearly at the top of the mountain. Search for the pilot was continued through the night, without success, but the following noon Madrill spotted the parachute and found the body of the youth about 30 feet from a dirt road running through the vicinity. A long rip in the chute indicated it had been damaged as the pilot bailed out and although it broke his fall to early slightly, it failed to save his life.