Stephenson MacGordon (February 29, 1892 – June 6, 1916) was a record-holding pioneer aviator who died in a crash in 1916.

Biography

He was born on February 29, 1892, in

Menominee, Michigan Menominee ( ) is a city in the Upper Peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 8,599 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Menominee County. Menominee is the fourth-largest city in the Upper Peninsula, behind Marquett ...

, to Charles Hackley McGordon (1871–1921). He was an instructor at the

Curtiss Flying School A Curtiss Jenny on a training flight Curtiss Flying School at North Beach California in 1911 The Curtiss Flying School was started by Glenn Curtiss to compete against the Wright Flying School of the Wright brothers. The first example was locate ...

. He died on June 6, 1916, in Newport News, Virginia, when the tail of his plane lifted during landing. His propeller hit the

runway According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt, concre ...

and a fire killed him. His student in the rear seat escaped with minor injuries.

References

1892 births 1916 deaths Accidental deaths in Virginia American aviators Aviators killed in aviation accidents or incidents in the United States Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1916 {{Aviation-bio-stub