Archie Raymond Twitchell (November 28, 1906 – January 31, 1957) was a pilot for over three decades between the 1920s and the 1950s. He also had a second profession as a movie actor. He was a captain in the US Army Air Force. He was killed in the 1957 Pacoima mid-air collision. Background Twitchell was born in Pendleton, Oregon on November 28, 1906. He made his first solo flight in 1923. Two years later, he began an acting career that took him through over 100 movies and television shows. His six-foot, one-inch stature with his grey eyes and brown hair suited the camera. He was sometimes billed as Michael Brandan/Brandon/Branden. Between pictures he flew. In 1936 he toured air shows across the country and in 1942 was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Air Force. During the war he tested fighter planes in North Africa and flew transports. In 1951 he went to Israel and tested planes for the Israeli air force. Since February 1955 he had been a production test pilot for the Douglas Aircraft Co. Crash On January 31, 1957, Twitchell was co-pilot on a test flight of a new Douglas DC-7B over Southern California. The four crew failed to see a Northrop F-89 Scorpion, also on a test flight, in time to avoid a mid-air collision. The fighter, coming out of 90-degree turn, struck the DC-7B almost head-on at 1118 hrs., ~1–2 miles NE of the Hansen Dam spillway, severing ~8 1/2 feet of the transport's port wing outboard of station 613. The DC-7B continued on a westward heading for about 4 miles before coming down. The aircraft broke up, – above the ground, and seconds later the wreckage impacted in the courtyard of the Pacoima Congregational Church near the corner of Laurel Canyon Boulevard and Terra Bella Street, near Sunland, California, killing all four crew. The CAB accident report states that "At 1118 activity in the Douglas radio room was interrupted by an emergency transmission from N 8210H. The voices were recognized by radio personnel familiar with the crew members. Pilot Cart first transmitted, 'Uncontrollable,' Copilot Twitchell then said, 'We're a midair collision – midair collision, 10 How (aircraft identification using phonetic How for H) we are going in – uncontrollable – uncontrollable – we are ... we've had it boy – poor jet too – told you we should take chutes – say goodbye to