Glendale, California, USA
1941 - AVIATOR DIES IN BURNING SHIP.

Glendale, Calif., Nov. 4. - (AP) - Plowing into a house from an altitude of 1800 feet, a Lockheed P-38 interceptor plane burst into flames today and killed its pilot, RALPH VIRDEN, forty-three, a Lockheed test pilot.

The plane developed trouble shortly after it circled the Lockheed airport, where F. B. Berger, chief tower operator, said it went into a power dive with the tail missing and broke into a flat spin just before it smashed into the house.

The plane exploded and flames shot up from the wreckage. The house was burning fiercely within a few minutes.

VIRDEN, who lives in North Hollywood, formerly was a pilot for United Air Lines. He is married and has a nineteen-year-old son, Ralph, Jr.

Reno Evening Gazette
Reno, Nevada
November 4, 1941

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