Knute Rockne's TWA airplane crashes (1931) - Click Americana Seek cause of plane accident fatal to eight Coroner’s jury begins inquiry at Cottonwood Falls, Kan. US mourns Rockne: Body of famous coach to be taken to South Bend today Bulletin – Cottonwood Falls, Kans., April 1 — A coroner’s jury was told today that the Transcontinental and Western Air Transport plane apparently was in distress for some minutes with its motors backfiring before it hurtled from the clouds yesterday to carry Knute Rockne, and seven others, to death in a pasture near Bazaar, Kan. (Article continues below) Cottonwood Falls, Kans., April 1 — Before an audience composed chiefly of grave-faced cattlemen and ranch hands, a coroner’s jury today attempted to fathom the mystery of the accident which yesterday led to the death of Knute Rockne and seven others in the crash of an airplane near Bazaar. Three witnesses were called by Dr Jacob Hinden, Chase County coroner.

They were RZ Blackburn, rancher, Edward Baker, son of Steward H Baker, upon whose range the plane fell, and Clarence H McCracken, ranch man who saw the liner hurtle to earth from a cloudy sky. Dr Hinden said other witnesses would be called, among them probably officials of Transcontinental and Western Air Express, Inc [TWA], owners of the ill-fated plane and department of commerce aviation inspector. CAPTION: Broken fuselage of wrecked Rockne plane — Central Press photo of ill-fated passenger-air mail plane in which Knute Rockne, famed Notre Dame football coach, and others fell to their death, shows fuselage of the aircraft which crashed down on a meadow near Bazaar, Kan. Photo rushed by plane and telephoto to this city. Wreckage viewed The inspector, who has viewed the wreckage, is Leonard Jurdon of Kansas City. HG Edgerton, Wichita, district agent of the airplane company, probably will be called. Dr Hinden said, to tell of the last radio message from the craft, received at 10:45am asking about weather conditions.

Harris Hanshue, president of Transcontinental and Western Air Express, and Anthony Fokker, designer of the craft which carried its crew and passengers to swift death, were expected to arrive here today. They were reported en route to Wichita, Kan., by airplane from Los Angeles. They planned to drive the 90 miles from Wichita to Cottonwood Falls. Ranchers in the vicinity of the crash said little of the plane remained for Hanshue and Fokker to examine, the largest part of the debris having been carried away by souvenir seekers. Eighteen pouches of mail were found intact in the twisted wreckage and forwarded by train to Wichita. Weather bad Flying through muggy weather on a trip that would have placed them in California last night, the two pilots and their passengers met instant death. There was no fire, indicating that the Transcontinental and Western air pilot, Robert Fry, had cut off the engines in the last moments of despair. The plane, which had left Kansas City little more than an hour before, was shattered against the ground, its motors partly buried.

Jess Mathias of Los Angeles, the co-pilot, signaled by radio a few minutes before the crash that he did not have “time to talk.” Three bodies were found in the wreckage. The other five were thrown free. HJ Christen and JH Happer of Chicago; WB Miller, Hartford, Conn; Spencer Goldthwaite, New York, and CA Robrecht, Wheeling, W. Va, were the others killed. Wing of plane found A half mile from the wreckage was found a wing of the plane. HG edgerton of Wichita, a representative of the air line, informed Dr Jacob Hinden, county coroner, there was a possibility ice had weighed down the wing, causing its severance from the plane. Residents of the vicinity, however, said ground temperatures were above freezing, and cowboys who scanned the clouds said the plane was not flying high. Arrangements were made to take Rockne’s body to South Bend, Ind., today. Funeral services will be held Saturday or Sunday. Views of the crash A comprehensive story in pictures of the country’s most recent tragedy of air transport — an accident which took the lives of Knute Rockne and seven others No. 1.

The section of the wing which left the plane as it was flying in the vicinity of Bazaar, Kans. It was this structural failure which sent the big monoplane and its passengers down to their doom from an altitude which has not been definitely determined. The two arrows in the picture indicate the locations within the wing of its two major supports. The arrow at the left points to the main spar; the other to the rear spar. As large as they are, these members must have given way to permit the wing breaking off. No. 2. This picture is a general view of the wreck, and clearly indicates to what extent the wreckage was spread over the ground. No.3. The force with which the plane struck the earth is evidenced here. So terrific was the impact that the tail of the plane was so twisted and broken as to have come to rest at right angles to the remainder of the fuselage, shown in the center of the picture. Much of the structure of the entire fuselage is of steel tubing, yet it was bent, twisted and broken beyond reclamation. No. 4. The remains of the ship’s nose engine disclose little that may be salvaged.

About the best that could be hoped for in the matter of salvage would be that possibly two or three cylinders might be fit for further use. The picture would indicate the big plane struck on its nose, the fuselage breaking in at least two sections at the impact. The engine shown in the picture is one of three 410-horsepower motors which went to make up the plane’s power plant. See books created by our team in the Click Americana shop ! Knute Rockne, Studebaker namesake, dies - Mar 31, 1931 - HISTORY.com Knute Rockne, Studebaker namesake, dies Share this: Knute Rockne, Studebaker namesake, dies Author Knute Rockne, Studebaker namesake, dies URL Publisher A+E Networks On this day in 1931, Knute Rockne, the legendary Notre Dame football coach and namesake of the Studebaker Rockne line of autos, is killed in a plane crash near Bazaar, Kansas, at the age of 43.

The roots of the Studebaker Corporation date back to 1852, when siblings Henry and Clement Studebaker opened a blacksmith shop in South Bend, Indiana. Studebaker eventually became a leading manufacturer of horse-drawn wagons and supplied the U.S. Army with wagons during the Civil War. Around the turn of the century, Studebaker joined America’s burgeoning auto industry, launching an electric car in 1902 and a gas-powered vehicle two years later that was marketed under the name Studebaker-Garford. After partnering with other automakers, Studebaker began selling gas-powered cars under its own name in 1913, while continuing to make wagons until 1920. Born on March 4, 1888, in Voss, Norway, Knute Rockne moved to Chicago, Illinois, with his family when he was 5. He attended the University of Notre Dame, in South Bend, where he played football for the Fighting Irish and was a stellar student.

From 1918 to 1930, the charismatic Rockne was head coach of the school’s football team, compiling a record of 105 wins, 12 losses, 5 ties and 6 national championships. His players included the All-American George “Gipper” Gip (1895–1920), the inspiration for Rockne’s now-famous motivational line “Win one for the Gipper.” In the late 1920s, Studebaker, then the world’s 10th-biggest automaker, signed Rockne to give motivational talks at auto conventions and dealership events. After Rockne died on March 31, 1931, while flying to Los Angeles to assist with the production of the movie “The Spirit of Notre Dame,” Studebaker decided to name its new line of low-priced vehicles after the revered coach. The company agreed to pay Rockne’s widow 25 cents for each car it sold.

Studebaker went on to make some 38,000 Rocknes for the model years 1932 and 1933; however, at the time, the auto industry had been hobbled by the Great Depression and in March 1933, Studebaker, which was heavily in debt, was forced into receivership. The company pulled the plug on the Rockne line later that year. Studebaker eventually rebounded, but by the 1950s, the company, which merged with Packard in 1954, was again facing financial troubles. In December 1963, with the closure of its South Bend production plant, Studebaker quit building cars in the United States. The company’s Hamilton, Ontario, facilities remained in operation until March 1966, when Studebaker shut its doors for good after 114 years in business. Related Videos KNUTE ROCKNE DIES IN AIRPLANE CRASH! | The Mitchell Archives - Original Historic Newspapers KNUTE ROCKNE DIES IN AIRPLANE CRASH!

LEGENDARY NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL COACH KILLED WHEN PLANE DOVE INTO A KANSAS FARM The New York Times April 1, 1931 The startling single column headline reads: “KNUTE ROCKNE DIES WITH SEVEN OTHERS IN MAIL PLANE DIVE.”Front page report includes details of the crash as noted by witnesses at the accident site in Kansas. The Times Sports Section contains a full page on the innovative and inspiring football coach with a superb photograph and headlines as: “ROCKNE A PIONEER ON FOOTBALL FIELD,” and “FOOTBALL LEADERS OF COUNTRY PAY TRIBUTE TO KNUTE ROCKNE.” Besides story after story, there is a complete printing of his Notre Dame coaching career with wins and losses for every year. This is the complete Times newspaper in near mint condition printed on enduring acid-free rag paper back in 1931. Only about 90 such issues were printed in order to ensure the Times issues would not deteriorate like the regular edition. A must for any fine sports collection and certainly for Notre Dame alumni and fans of all ages.

$350 Tags: Hockey KHL NHL Pavol Demitra Plane Crash Tragic Death Tragedy struck yesterday when the passenger plane carrying Russian hockey team Lokomotiv of the KHL (Kontinental Hockey League) crashed just after take-off, killing 43 people. Added to the growing list of prominent athletes whose lives were cut short were former NHL players Pavol Demitra and Brad McCrimmon, the team’s coach. Sadly, this was hardly the first time prominent people from the world of sports have lost their lives in such a fashion. Since the dawn of commercial aviation, hardly a decade has gone by without one or two notable athletes being killed in a plane crash. So today, as a tribute to all these fallen stars, we present a chronological list of athletes killed in plane crashes. 13. Knute Rockne (1931) Legendary Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne—who helped make the game of football what it is today—was one of 8 people who died when TWA Flight 599 out of Kansas City crashed on March 31, 1931.

He had just visited his two sons (Bill and Knute Jr.) at their boarding school and was on his way to consult on the production of the film The Spirit of Notre Dame. At the time of his death, his record as coach of the Fighting Irish was an absurd 105 wins, 12 losses, and 5 ties. 12. Torino FC Soccer Team (1949) Torino FC were the champions of Italy’s Serie A soccer league in 1948-49, and are considered by some to have been one of the best clubs in the history of Italian soccer. Their captain, Valentino Mazzola, was one of the best players in the world. So you can imagine the enormity of the public’s grief after 22 of the team’s 23 players were killed when their plane crashed into a mountain outside Turin. The only player whose life was spared was not on the flight because he was injured and not traveling with the team. 11. Bill Barilko (1951) On April 21, 1951, defenseman Bill Barilko of the Toronto Maple Leafs accomplished what every hockey-playing kid in the world dreams about every night.

That night, in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup finals against the Montreal Canadiens, Barilko scored the overtime goal that won the cup for Toronto. Tragically, only four months later Barilko died in a plane crash on his way home from a fishing trip if rural Quebec. 10. 8 Members of Manchester United (1958) On February 6, 1958, British Airways Flight 609 traveling from Belgrade, Yugoslavia to Manchester, England, crashed while attempting to take off from a slush-covered runway in Munich, Germany, where it had stopped to refuel. Twenty-three of the forty-four people on board died, including 8 members of the 1957-58 Manchester United squad. Among English soccer fans, the incident became known as the “Munich air disaster.” The tragedy is memorialized by a plaque hanging today at Man U’s famous Old Trafford stadium. 9. U.S. Figure Skating Team (1961) On February 16, 1961, the United States sporting community experienced one of the most horrific tragedies one could imagine. The entire U.S.

Figure Skating Team perished when their Boeing 707 crashed on its approach to Brussels’ Zaventem Airport. They were on their way to compete in the World Championships in Prague, Czechoslovakia. Among those killed were 9-time U.S. women’s champion Maribel Vinson-Owen, reigning women’s champion Laurence Owen, and men’s champion Bradley Lord. 8. Tony Lema (1966) Tony Lema was one of modern golf’s brightest stars in the early 60s. He won the 1964 British Open, 12 PGA Tour tournaments, and finished in the top-10 of another eight major tournaments. He became famous not only for his success, but also for his exuberant celebrations after a big win. (They called him “Champagne Tony Lema.”) Sadly, he died at the very young age of 32, when a private plane he had chartered crashed—where else?—onto a golf course. 7.

36 Marshall University Football Players (1970) On November 14, 1970, half of Marshall University’s football team was killed when their plane, flying through rain and fog, clipped the top of a tree and crashed just short of its runway in West Virginia. This terrible tragedy and its aftermath were the subjects of the 2006 film, We Are Marshall. 6. Old Christians Rugy Union Club (1972) This is another plane crash memorialized by a film. In this case, the film would be 1993’s Alive, which tells the story of Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571. The plane, which was carrying 40 members of the Old Christians rugby club from Montevido, Uruguay, crashed high up in the Andes mountains, killing 16 people immediately. Search and rescue crews were unable to find the wreckage, and another 13 died as a result of the harsh conditions. Finally, more than two months after the crash, 16 survivors were rescued on December 23, 1972.

Of course, this incident is most famous for the stories of how survivors resorted to cannibalizing the dead in order to survive. 5. Roberto Clemente (1972) Roberto Clemente of the Pittsburgh Pirates was a fantastic baseball player and, somehow, an even better human being. He died on December 31, 1972, when the plane he was using to bring supplies to victims of a Nicaraguan earthquake crashed in the Caribbean. The only reason he was even on the flight was because previous shipments had been stolen by corrupt government officials, so he wanted to personally make sure the supplies actually got to those in need. 4. University of Evansville Men’s Basketball Team (1977) 1977 was to be the University of Evansville Purple Aces’ first season in Division I athletics. Sadly, the men’s basketball never completed its first season. On December 13, their chartered DC-3 crashed in a field near the Evansville Regional Airport, killing the entire team and its coaching staff. 3.

18 Members of the Zambian National Soccer Team (1993) The entire Zambian national soccer team—18 players and 5 team officials—died on April 28, 1993. They were on their way to a World Cup qualifying match against Senegal when their plane crashed into the Atlantic just off the coast of Libreville, Gabon. An investigation concluded the cause of the crash was pilot error. 2. Payne Stewart (1999) On October 25, 1999, just four months after winning his second U.S. Open Championship, Payne Stewart died in a freak plane crash. The Learjet he was taking from Orlando to Dallas lost cabin pressure mid-flight, and the pilots and passengers all died from hypoxia (i.e., oxygen deprivation). The jet veered way off course, but remained aloft (thanks to autopilot) until it ran out of fuel and crashed in North Dakota. Stewart was one of the most well-liked guys on the PGA Tour throughout the 90s, so his death really shook the world of golf. 1.

Lokomotiv Hockey Team (2011) September 7, 2011, was one of the worst days in the history of pro hockey. Over 40 people died when a Yak-42 aircraft crashed into a river bank near Yaroslavl, Russia. The plane was carrying the Lokomotiv hockey team of the KHL to its first game of the season in Minsk, Belarus. All but one of the team’s players died in the crash, including Slovakian forward Pavol Demitra, 36; Czechs Jan Marek, 31, Karel Rachunek, 32, and Joseph Vasicek, 30; Swedish goalkeeper Stefan Liv, 30; and Canadian coach and former NHL defenseman Brad McCrimmon, 52. PHOTOS: Knute Rockne airplane crash | The Wichita Eagle March 29, 2016 7:08 AM PHOTOS: Knute Rockne airplane crash Order Reprint of this Story Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne poses for a photo in 1925.

Rockne and 7 others died in an airplane crash near Bazaar, Kansas March 31, 1931. File photo AP Searchers are shown at the site of a plane crash that killed six passengers, including Knute Rockne, Notre Dame football coach, and two pilots near Bazaar, Kansas on March 31, 1931. The Transcontinental and Western Air, Inc., mail transport lost a wing and spun down out of stormy skies into a wheat farm with tremendous force. Five bodies were thrown from the wreckage, while three were found mutilated in the wreckage. The broken wing descended on a nearby hilltop. File photo AP Officials and onlookers, many on horseback, surround the wreckage of the plane that carried Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne near Bazaar, Kansas in 1931. Rockne and 7 others died in the crash. File photo The Wichita Eagle The front page of the April 1, 1931 Wichita Eagle reported the death of 8 people, including Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne, in an airplane crash near Bazaar, Kansas the previous day.

The Wichita Eagle Wichita Eagle photographer Harold Lyle was able to shoot these photos for the April 1, 1931 Wichita Eagle that reported on the airplane crash that killed coach Knute Rockne near Bazaar, Kansas. The Wichita Eagle An eyewitness gave his account of the airplane crash that killed Knute Rockne and 7 others in an article from the April 1, 1931 Wichita Eagle. The Wichita Eagle Onlookers look at the wreckage of the plane that carried Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne near Bazaar, Kansas in 1931. Rockne and 7 others died in the crash. File photo The Wichita Eagle Onlookers look at the wreckage of the plane that carried Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne near Bazaar, Kansas in 1931. Rockne and 7 others died in the crash. File photo The Wichita Eagle Onlookers look at the wreckage of the plane that carried Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne near Bazaar, Kansas in 1931. Rockne and 7 others died in the crash.

File photo The Wichita Eagle Onlookers look at the wreckage of the plane that carried Notre Dame coach Knute Rockne near Bazaar, Kansas in 1931. Rockne and 7 others died in the crash. File photo The Wichita Eagle The ship in which Knute Rockne fell to his death with five fellow passengers on a mid-Kansas hilltop on March 31 was a tangled, almost unrecognizable mass of wreckage after the crash, shown in Kansas on April 2, 1931. The bodies were extricated. Five were thrown clear of the plane. File photo AP Former Notre Dame athletes made a pilgrimage to Kansas to lay a wreath on the monument of Knute Rockne, in Bazaar, Kansas, on Wednesday, March 6, 1936, noted coach of Irish football teams who died in a plane crash five years ago.

Left to right, Jess Harper, former director of athletics at Notre Dame; Marchmont Schwartz, coach at Creighton University, Omaha; Al Gebert head coach, Wichita University; Nordy Hoffman, Assistant coach, Wichita University; Larry (Moon) Mullins, coach, Benedict's Atchison, Kas.; Dan Foley, Leavenworth, Ks. File photo AP Frank Gaddie, 91, looks at the Rockne Memorial in a Chase County pasture in 2001. A plane carrying legendary Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne crashed into this field near Bazaar March 31, 193. Gaddie, who was repairing fence nearby, was one one of the first to arrive on the scene. Travis Heying The Wichita Eagle The Knute Rockne Memorial near Bazaar, Kansas, on March 31, 2006. File photo The Wichita Eagle Easter Heathman, of Bazaar, Kansas, waits for a ceremony to begin at the Knute Rockne Memorial on March 31, 2006. Heathman was one of the first to the airplane crash site that killed the legendary football coach.

File photo The Wichita Eagle This memorial stands in a private field near Matfield Green, at the site of the March 1931 plane crash that killed Notre Dame football coach Knute Rockne and seven others. (Aug. 20, 1999) File photo The Wichita Eagle Notre Dame fans gathered in the Flint Hills around the Knute Rockne Memorial honoring the legendary coach on the 75th anniversary of his death in an airplane crash near Matfield Green, Kansas. File photo The Wichita Eagle In this Sept. 15, 1930, file photo, Coach Knute Rockne, puts his football proteges through the first football drill of the season at Cartier Field, South Bend, Indiana. File photo AP Knute Rockne, Notre Dame football coach, instructing football players, 1925. File photo AP Knute Rockne talks to his Notre Dame football team at the old Cartier Field in Southbend, Ind., on Sept. 15, 1930.

File photo AP 1 of 20 March 31, 1931 : Knute Rockne, Studebaker namesake, dies Introduction On this day in 1931, Knute Rockne, the legendary Notre Dame football coach and namesake of the Studebaker Rockne line of autos, is killed in a plane crash near Bazaar, Kansas, at the age of 43. The roots of the Studebaker Corporation date back to 1852, when siblings Henry and Clement Studebaker opened a blacksmith shop in South Bend, Indiana. Studebaker eventually became a leading manufacturer of horse-drawn wagons and supplied the U.S. Army with wagons during the Civil War. Around the turn of the century, Studebaker joined America’s burgeoning auto industry, launching an electric car in 1902 and a gas-powered vehicle two years later that was marketed under the name Studebaker-Garford. After partnering with other automakers, Studebaker began selling gas-powered cars under its own name in 1913, while continuing to make wagons until 1920.

Born on March 4, 1888, in Voss, Norway, Knute Rockne moved to Chicago, Illinois, with his family when he was 5. He attended the University of Notre Dame, in South Bend, where he played football for the Fighting Irish and was a stellar student. From 1918 to 1930, the charismatic Rockne was head coach of the school’s football team, compiling a record of 105 wins, 12 losses, 5 ties and 6 national championships. His players included the All-American George “Gipper” Gip (1895–1920), the inspiration for Rockne’s now-famous motivational line “Win one for the Gipper.” In the late 1920s, Studebaker, then the world’s 10th-biggest automaker, signed Rockne to give motivational talks at auto conventions and dealership events. After Rockne died on March 31, 1931, while flying to Los Angeles to assist with the production of the movie “The Spirit of Notre Dame,” Studebaker decided to name its new line of low-priced vehicles after the revered coach.

The company agreed to pay Rockne’s widow 25 cents for each car it sold. Studebaker went on to make some 38,000 Rocknes for the model years 1932 and 1933; however, at the time, the auto industry had been hobbled by the Great Depression and in March 1933, Studebaker, which was heavily in debt, was forced into receivership. The company pulled the plug on the Rockne line later that year. Studebaker eventually rebounded, but by the 1950s, the company, which merged with Packard in 1954, was again facing financial troubles. In December 1963, with the closure of its South Bend production plant, Studebaker quit building cars in the United States. The company’s Hamilton, Ontario, facilities remained in operation until March 1966, when Studebaker shut its doors for good after 114 years in business.

Article Details: March 31, 1931 : Knute Rockne, Studebaker namesake, dies Author March 31, 1931 : Knute Rockne, Studebaker namesake, dies URL The Last Flight of Knute Rockne // Moments // 125 Football // University of Notre Dame #111 Share Moment The Last Flight of Knute Rockne In March 1931, head coach Knute Rockne (‘14) boarded Transcontinental and Western Air Flight 599, headed to Los Angeles to participate in the production of The Spirit of Notre Dame. Tragically, the plane went down a few miles west of Bazaar, Kan., killing Rockne and the other seven on board. After leading Notre Dame to back-to-back national championships, Rockne’s death devastated the university community and shook the United States, with President Herbert Hoover declaring it “a national loss.” In this ‘Strong and True’ moment, former Irish head coach Ara Parseghian recalls his childhood, and the time he found out about the Irish coach’s passing.

The accompanying images from the crash, as well as Rockne’s funeral, are from the University of Notre Dame Archives. An artist’s drawing depicting the tragic plane crash that took the life of Knute Rockne and seven others. Headline from The Toledo Blade following Rockne’s death. Looking through the wreckage of the TWA Flight 599 crash. Notre Dame athletes gathered at Rockne’s grave site in April 1931. Rockne’s funeral at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart. A crowd of people gather outside the Basilica for Knute Rockne’s funeral. Pallbearers Marty Brill, Marchy Schwartz, Tom Conley, Frank Carideo, Tommy Yarr, and Larry Mullins carrying Knute Rockne’s casket out of the Basilica of the Sacred Heart following his funeral. President Herbert Hoover declared Rockne’s death “a national loss.” Front page of a special issue of Scholastic announcing Rockne’s death. Bazaar, KS Knute Rockne and others Killed in Plane Crash, Mar 1931 | GenDisasters ...

Genealogy in Tragedy, Disasters, Fires, Floods Home » Bazaar, KS Knute Rockne and others Killed in Plane Crash, Mar 1931 Bazaar, KS Knute Rockne and others Killed in Plane Crash, Mar 1931 ROCKNE KILLED IN CRASH NOTED FOOTBALL COACH AND SEVEN OTHERS ARE VICTIMS OF ACCIDENT. ROCKNE of Notre Dame and Seven Passengers of Trans-Continental and Western Airplane Killed Near Bazaar, Kan. -- Ship Crashed in Flames Following Explosion, According to Youth Who Witnessed Accident -- ROCKNE Enroute to California to Make Feature Picture -- Sport World Mourns Loss of Great Mentor. Kansas City, March, 31 -- (AP) -- KNUTE ROCKNE, famous football coach of Notre Dame university, and seven others were killed when a Trans-Continental and Western air passenger and mail plane crashed in flames today in a pasture several miles southwest of Bazaar, Kas. ROCKNE boarded the plane here en route to California at 9:15 a. m. and about 11 a. m.

the ship identified by its department of commerce license number, crashed and burned as it fought a fog and storm en route to Wichita, Kas. The body of ROCKNE and the other victims had not been definitely identified at the scene, but it was certain the noted coach was a passenger on the wrecked air liner and that all those aboard had been killed. The passenger list announced here: KNUTE ROCKNE. W. B. MILLER, Hartford, Conn. F. GOLDTHWAITE, New York. The pilots were ROBERT FRY and JESS MATHIAS. The plane exploded in midair and fell to earth in flames, witnesses said. EDWARD BAKER witnessed the explosion and saw the plane plunge as he was feeding cattle in the pasture a short distance away on the farm of his father, SEWARD BAKER. BAKER found five bodies when he reached the plane. He notified an undertaking establishment at Cottonwood Falls. Ambulances rushed to the scene over muddy roads which impeded their progress. Although muggy weather made flying hazardous, the ten passenger Fokker air liner took off here this morning with passengers and a cargo of mail.

Continued on page 2 Articles about Knute Rockne - tribunedigital-chicagotribune Notre Dame legend: Knute Rockne By Brian Hamilton, Chicago Tribune reporter | December 29, 2012 After Knute Rockne ascended to the head coaching job at Notre Dame in 1917 - he had accepted a graduate student post on the condition he could help then-coach Jesse Harper - Irish football was never the same. In 13 years, Rockne won 105 games with only 12 losses and five ties - an .881 winning percentage that still ranks at the top in college football history. His Notre Dame teams went unbeaten and untied five times and beat Stanford in 1925 in the program's lone appearance in the Rose Bowl. SPORTS Notre Dame legend: George Gipp By Brian Hamilton, Chicago Tribune reporter | December 31, 2012 As a player, Notre Dame remembers Gipp as one of the most versatile players in its history - and certainly the most apt at multitasking in the Knute Rockne era.

Gipp led the Irish in rushing and passing yards for three straight seasons (1918-20), and his career mark of 2,341 rushing yards lasted for a half-century. But, of course, Gipp's name became gilded in Notre Dame history with the speech he purportedly gave Rockne while on his deathbed on Dec. 14, 1920. "I've got to go, Rock," Gipp... Advertisement No Secrets In This Serviceable Biography Of Knute Rockne By Mike Leary, Knight-Ridder/Tribune | October 26, 1999 ROCKNE OF NOTRE DAME: The Making of a Football Legend By Ray Robinson Oxford University Press, 290 pages, $25 There can scarcely be any fan of sport--or politics, for that matter--who does not know of Knute Rockne's halftime exhortation to his 1928 Notre Dame team to fulfill the dying request of his All-American halfback, George Gipp, to "win one for the Gipper." No matter that Gipp probably never told Rockne to invoke his name, "when things are...

SPORTS Notre Dame legend: Knute Rockne By Brian Hamilton, Chicago Tribune reporter | December 29, 2012 After Knute Rockne ascended to the head coaching job at Notre Dame in 1917 - he had accepted a graduate student post on the condition he could help then-coach Jesse Harper - Irish football was never the same. In 13 years, Rockne won 105 games with only 12 losses and five ties - an .881 winning percentage that still ranks at the top in college football history. His Notre Dame teams went unbeaten and untied five times and beat Stanford in 1925 in the program's lone appearance in the Rose Bowl. FEATURES Before Ditka By Rick Kogan, TV critic | January 25, 1993 In the throes of the Mike Ditka (debacle, emancipation, nonsense, Sturm und Drang-pick one), portions of "Knute Rockne and His Fighting Irish" (9 p.m. Monday, PBS-Ch. 11) have an eerie familiarity. This is historian Michael Oriard talking: "He embodies self-promotion, publicizing, making football into a spectacle.

But he also embodies teamwork, and precision and dedication." He's talking about Rockne, but those words might well be describing Ditka. Both men, separated by about a half-century, juggled... SPORTS Northwestern's own great communicator By Teddy Greenstein, Chicago Tribune reporter | August 29, 2012 The Great Communicator was born in Illinois but made his name in California, playing George "The Gipper" Gipp in "Knute Rockne, All American" decades before ascending to the White House. Northwestern now has its own Ronald Reagan in the secondary. His name: Davion Fleming. Born in California, he's making his name in Illinois. "A great communicator," cornerback Nick VanHoose said. "He's a loud talker and has great signals. That's all you need, really. " So maybe it's a stretch... SPORTS Flame's keeper By Shannon Ryan, Tribune staff reporter | December 12, 2007 Only the brisk winds that whip around southeast Kansas interrupt the quiet that surrounds the golden, ice-blanketed rolling hills near the home of Easter Heathman.

Occasionally, a train chugs along the tracks behind the home of the 90-year-old man and his dog Daisy, or a truck barrels down Highway 177 or a plane zooms overhead. Seventy-six years ago, a week before Heathman's 14th birthday, he heard the strange buzz of an airplane circling, cutting through this usual silence as he shelled seed corn with... SPORTS Notre Dame isn't interested in joining Big Ten By Teddy Greenstein, Tribune reporter | December 17, 2009 During his 17 months as Notre Dame's athletic director, Jack Swarbrick has asked university officials about what transpired in 1999, when the Irish declined an invitation to join the Big Ten. Was it a close decision? "I'm not completely sure," Swarbrick said Wednesday. "The stories don't exactly line up." Notre Dame's present-day stance is clearer: If the Big Ten opts to expand, it should not bother to knock on Notre Dame's door. "Our strong preference is to... SPORTS USC-Notre Dame battle is her game BY BILL PLASCHKE | November 24, 2006 She didn't like sports.

She didn't even like the outdoors. She attended a school that eventually became UCLA. There is a building at USC that carries her last name, but it wasn't named for her. There is someone in her family in the USC Hall of Fame, but it's not her. Marion Wilson was a singer, not a song girl. She was a homemaker, not a groundbreaker. But Saturday, on the 80th anniversary of the first USC-Notre Dame game, she will again be a legend. Because it's her... SPORTS Easter Heathman dies By Shannon Ryan, Tribune reporter | January 31, 2008 Easter Heathman, 90, caretaker of the site of Knute Rockne's fatal 1931 plane crash, died Tuesday from complications of pneumonia. Heathman's name was not as well known as Ara Parseghian's or Joe Montana's when it came to Notre Dame football legends, but the former farmer and U.S. Army veteran became part of Irish history by dedicating his life to memorializing Rockne. Heathman was the last living witness to the crash that killed the famed Notre Dame coach. He became a Rockne historian and an...

NEWS All-American appeal carried him to heights By Robert K. Elder, Tribune staff reporter | June 6, 2004 When asked what his greatest role was, Ronald Reagan told biographer Lou Cannon, "President. That was the role of a lifetime." But before being cast as commander in chief by the American people in 1980, Reagan's silver screen roles included a football star, Navy captain, gangster kingpin, alcoholic baseball pitcher, George Armstrong Custer and, perhaps most famously, second banana to a chimpanzee in "Bedtime for Bonzo." Reagan acted in 54 features from 1937 to 1964, working with... SPORTS Rockne's spirit alive, Illini hopes thrive By Shannon Ryan, Tribune staff reporter | December 25, 2007 My favorite story After a three-hour drive through a southeast Kansas snowstorm, I spent an afternoon with 90-year-old Easter Heathman, the last living witness to Knute Rockne's 1931 plane crash.

Heathman, who was a 13-year-old farm boy when he helped put Rockne's body on a stretcher, has devoted his life to memorializing the legendary Notre Dame coach. Hearing Heathman humbly tell me about his devotion to relaying the story of Rockne's life and death was touching. Best game... NEWS Kick Coming By R.F. Stoiber | March 17, 1988 The new 22-cent Knute Rockne commemorative stamp is a field goal short of beating Uncle Sam to the punch with a 25-center. SPORTS Flame's keeper By Shannon Ryan, Tribune staff reporter | December 12, 2007 Only the brisk winds that whip around southeast Kansas interrupt the quiet that surrounds the golden, ice-blanketed rolling hills near the home of Easter Heathman. Occasionally, a train chugs along the tracks behind the home of the 90-year-old man and his dog Daisy, or a truck barrels down Highway 177 or a plane zooms overhead.

Seventy-six years ago, a week before Heathman's 14th birthday, he heard the strange buzz of an airplane circling, cutting through this usual silence as he shelled seed corn with... NEWS Teacher, Actress Who Played In `Asphalt Jungle` By New York Times News Service | February 16, 1992 Dorothy Uris, a Broadway and Hollywood actress and voice teacher known professionally as Dorothy Tree, died Thursday at the Actor's Fund Home in Englewood, N.J. She was 85. She died of heart failure, said her son, Joseph Uris of New York. Mrs. Uris, who was born in Brooklyn, started her acting career in the late 1920s by playing a succession of parlor maids on Broadway. Her best-known film roles were the mother of Knute Rockne (played by Pat O`Brien) in "Knute... SPORTS USC-Notre Dame battle is her game BY BILL PLASCHKE | November 24, 2006 She didn't like sports. She didn't even like the outdoors. She attended a school that eventually became UCLA.

There is a building at USC that carries her last name, but it wasn't named for her. There is someone in her family in the USC Hall of Fame, but it's not her. Marion Wilson was a singer, not a song girl. She was a homemaker, not a groundbreaker. But Saturday, on the 80th anniversary of the first USC-Notre Dame game, she will again be a legend. Because it's her... NEWS Notre Dame Cheers Return Of `Gipper` Reagan By George de Lama, Chicago Tribune | March 10, 1988 Ronald Reagan returned in triumph Wednesday to the place that launched his movie acting career and perhaps even his presidency, taking up the role of "the Gipper" once again as he stepped back in nostalgia to the golden days. Reliving his days as a young actor playing the role of football star George Gipp, Reagan came to Notre Dame to honor the memory of coach Knute Rockne and the legend the President has taken on as his own. In a speech dedicating the U.S. Postal Service's...

NEWS Baccash, Gibran Michael February 24, 2006 Gibran "Gib" Michael Baccash, born on May 28, 1914, the son of Lebanese immigrants, grew up in Chicago, as a teenager attending Senn High School. He held various jobs starting work at a soda fountain for twenty cents an hour. He would also become a registered pharmacist working on the near north side, grinding medicines with a mortar and pestle and weighing them by hand before filling capsules for patients. "Probably rather inaccurate by today's standards," he said. "During Prohibition," he would add,... SPORTS They talked a good game December 14, 2004 1. Crash Davis, Bull Durham "I believe in long, slow, deep, soft, wet kisses that last three days." Said by actor Kevin Costner 2. Carl Spackler, Caddyshack "Cinderella story. Outta nowhere. A former greenskeeper, now, about to become the Masters champion. It looks like a mirac... It's in the hole! It's in the hole! It's in the hole!" Said by actor Bill Murray 3.

Rod Tidwell, Jerry Maguire "Show me the money!" Said by actor Cuba Gooding, Jr. 4. Knute Rockne,... SPORTS Rockne, not rocky start for Weis BY AVANI PATEL | September 11, 2005 With Notre Dame's victory Saturday at Michigan, Charlie Weis became the first Irish coach to win his first two games on an opponents' home field since Knute Rockne in 1918. Weis laughed at the comparison. "I've played two games. Really, I've just coached. They've played two games," Weis said. "Let's come back and revisit this 10 years from now." Sounds of silence While the Michigan band regaled the Michigan Stadium crowd with "The Victors," the Notre Dame band was nowhere to... Knute Rockne Memorial – Matfield Green, Kansas | Atlas Obscura Please separate multiple addresses with commas. We won't share addresses with third parties.

Subscribe me to the Atlas Obscura Newsletter A granite monument standing tall in the swaying grass of the Kansas Flinthills marks the spot where Knute Rockne, a famous Notre Dame football coach, died in a plane crash on a cool March morning in 1931. Rockne was one of eight on TWA flight 599 - all died instantly. Etched on the granite monument are the names of all those on the plane that morning, but Rockne’s name sits at the top of the list. Rockne was on his way to California to consult on a movie being made to commemorate his legendary career. It’s unclear what caused the plane, a Fokker 999E, to spiral out of control, but some accounts blame a freak storm that those who lived in Kansas are not unfamiliar with. The site of the crash was a tourist attraction for weeks, with Kansas natives flocking to the site from all over the state. In the decades since, the sensation has worn off and the small memorial was erected.

The memorial, which sits at the exact site of the crash that killed Rockne, is on private property and no public access is allowed unless there’s a special event taking place or special arrangements with the owner have been made.

Question: Which coach of the Notre Dame american football team was killed in a plane crash in 1931?
Answer: Knute Rockne