Viking_Yearbook_95

Courtesy ofAssociated Press White House Plane Crash F rank Corder suffered from depression, had a history of drug and alcohol abuse, and probably was suicidal. But nothing may ever explain for sure why the Maryland trucker stole a small plane near Baltimore and crashed into the White House lawn shortly before 2 a.m. on September 15, 1994. Corder, 38, died in what one federal investigator described as "a pretty pathetic thing— a final act of desperation." Neither President Clinton nor his wife and daughter were home when Corder, flying at treetop level, breached restricted air space around the White House and smashed into a magnolia tree on the South Lawn. The single engine plane came to rest against the mansion wall and burst into flames. Corder had taken antidepressant medications, and friends and relatives said he was discouraged by the recent breakup of his marriage and his father's death. But they disagreed over whether his flight was a publicity stunt or a suicide attempt. Courtesy ofAssociated Press 19