September 5, 1929 The following article appeared in The Landmark, Statesville, NC. "KINSTON SCHOOL BOY KILLED IN AIRPLANE. Richard Bland Jr., 17 Dies Three Hours After Plane Falls 200 Feet - Pilot Escapes Injury. Kinston, Sept. 4 - Richard Bland Jr., 17, a high school senior, was fatally injured in an airplane crash at Liberty Hill, near here, at 5:10 p.m. yesterday. L. Durald Wilson, of Mount Olive, the pilot, escaped serious injury but was so badly shocked he could not explain the accident. Francis Pittman, a filling station proprietor, said he saw the plane fall from an estimated altitude of 200 feet while making the first bank after taking off from a field near his place. Pittman could not surmise the cause. He with others, hastened to the spot where the demolished plane, a Travelir, lay and found the injured passenger and pilot laying beside the wreckage. The machine did not take fire. An ambulance rushed Wilson and Bland to a hospital, where Bland died three hours later. The latter's eyes had been gouged out supposedly by a broken cowling support, and his chest was crushed. The pilot was so dazed he could not remember the crash, it was said. Whether the men were thrown out or crawled out of the plane was unknown. Young Bland was the son of R. F. Bland, a prominent planter. Wilson has a reputation as a safe flyer. He has made many flights here."
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