Burdette S. “Burd” White (1881-1931)

WHITE, MCCORD, BROUHARD, RINGHEIM

Posted By: Dorian Myhre (email)
Date: 10/2/2021 at 09:05:06

From Nevada Evening Journal August 11, 1931 (page 1)

BURD WHITE DIED FROM HIS BURNS

PIONEER AVIATOR OF DES MOINES MET WITH FATAL ACCIDENT

Burd S. White, 57, Des Moines aviator, is dead today as a result of burns sustained Monday afternoon when a plane he was taxiing across the municipal airport burst into flames.

White, pioneer aviator of Iowa, who has spent thousands of hours in the air, was destined to meet his fate while on the ground and spent his final hours in a hospital bed.

White who had built the plane himself as an experiment, was taking the plane to the end of the field preparatory to taking off when the ship caught fire, apparently from sparks caused from the motor's backfire.

The flames had gained much headway before they were discovered by White, who was busily engaged in watching affairs from the pilot's seat, and he was unable to escape before his clothing had become ignited.

The pioneer airman was hurried to a Des Moines hospital where his burns were cared for, but he died last night.

White was well known in Story county, having lived around Collin as a boy. His mother was a daughter of the pioneer C. P. McCord family, one of the oldest in the county.

Mrs. White is a sister of Earl Brouhard of Nevada, W. C. Brouhard of Zearing and John Brouhard of Colo.

Relatives of the deceased in Nevada now are Mrs. Wright Ringheim an Frederick McCord, both cousins.