The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1921-07-19
DETAILS Of FALL
OF PLANE AT E[K0

William Arthur Keddie, Fallon
ranoher, and John Austin Frost, ex-
army aviator, were instantly killed at
the air mail landing field here Sun
day afternoon about $50. when the
plane In which they were flying fell
to earth from an altitude of about
300 feet. bursting into flames and
burning both occupants beyond recog-
milton.
The exact cause of the accident will
never be determined. There were no
| filters of the air mail service on the
field at the time. SO an expert ac-
count cannot be obtained. Superi1-
| tendent Barber fastened to the scene
as soon as he heard of the tragedy.
and from reports of eye-witnesses he
| states that Pilot Frost must have lost
control when turning into the wind
which might happen with either too
steep or too fiat turn. The machine
was the one which Barber had just
| completed and was owned by himself
and Mr.. Keddie. According to Bar
ber. who flew the machine for half
| an hour on Saturday afternoon, ii
was In perfect mechanical condition.
w. A. Keddie was born at Quincy.
Calf. March 4. 1873. and graduated
from the School of Mines of Nevada
| in 1901. He was an athlete from his
early youth and held the Pacific
coast record for the two-mile bicycle
| race.
| He was married in 1906 to Miss Ada
! Williams of Fallon, and has made his
home in that city for many years. He
was manager of the Williams estate.
Always active in constructive poll
tics, he was member of the state
senate from Churchill county and
president pro tenn from 1916 to 1929.
He was seriously considered as a can
didate for governor at the last cleo
| tion.
| Beside his wife he is survived by
his father. Arthur w. Keddie of
Quincy. and sister, Mrs. Palmer. of
Garfield, Utah. Mrs Keddie arrived
| on No. % this morning.
| Mr.. Keddie was a member of the
| Benevolent and Protective Order OF
Elks and a Mason. being a 32nd de-
gree Shriner The body was taken
to- Quincy last night
j. A. Frost was born at Helena.
Montana. May 7. 1898, and graduated
from the high school at Ely. He was
attending the University of Nevada
when war was declared and entered
the service about Thanksgiving day
in 1917.
He served as instructor in aviation
and won his lieutenancy on his 21st
birthday, and was discharged in De-
cember, 1918. but still held his sec
ond lieutenants commission in the
reserve. He had received his EN-
barkation orders when the armistice
was signed.
His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Austin
]. Frost, reside at Santa Cruz. Calf.
A brother, Forrest. of Reno. arrived
here this morning to take charge of
the remains. which will be shipped to
Harry and Daniel. live with their par
ents.
An Account OF the Crash.
A. J. Simcox, who took the two Sen
to the field in his car. says that they
had expected to fly to the Hollan
ranch.
His testimony at the inquest, in
part, is as follows:
They started up the motor, and 1t
wasn't working good. He changed
two spark plugs in the motor, that
is Mr.. Keddie and Mr.. Frost, and
then started up the motor and it was
working fine. The motor was run
ming, Mr.. Keddie and Mr. Frost ex-
amined all the steering apparatus,
and Mr. Frost got up into the seat.
Mr.. Keddie took the blocks away from
the wheel and they started up in the
machine, took II over to the right
hand side of the field then turned
1t in an angle facing southeasterly.
Then Keddie got in the machine and
they started it of down the field; but
after they started it down the field
they headed in a westerly direction.
| hSh IL went piopdDly udil way uoN II
the field when they left the ground
should judge 1t was up about 800
feet when they turned the machine
to the right. then the machine came
on level and then made a complete
turn, before 1t headed toward the
ground. When II hit the ground
there was nothing but a bunch OF
flames
Q. Were there any flames when
1t hit the ground?
A. No sir.
Q. tBy Juror Middleton) Was
there an explosion when it hit the
ground?
A. Well. couldn't say positively
as to that
@. Did it look to you that ii burst
into flames after 1t hit the ground?
A. Yes.