CA1290

San Francisco Chronicle Nov. 14, 1919
(C. Avis Catalog entry #1290)

p. 12

Inquiry Into Flyer's Death is Ordered

The Western Department ordered an immediate investigation yesterday into the circumstances surrounding the death of Lieutenant Charles A. [sic] Rudd, an instructor at Mather Field, who was killed near Stockton Wednesday night.  Rudd left San Francisco at 4 P. M. to fly to Mather Field, near Sacramento, which he should have reached in not longer that fifty minutes.  He crashed while trying to land near Stockton at 7:30 P. M.  How he happened to get that far off his course and stay up until after dark is a mystery to the Western Department staff.  Rudd was looked upon as a competent flyer.  The investigation will be made by a board of officers from Mather Field.