Byrd's transatlantic flight, at the last minute abandoned plans for a whoopee party with their wives at Biarritz, swank French resort across the Spanish frontier. They decided that they would rather raid Burgos, Generalísimo Franco's headquarters. The hundreds of incendiary bombs that they dropped on White hangars and munition dumps they jokingly described as "Messages of Christmas Cheer for the boys in Burgos." Death In December 1951 Acosta collapsed in a New York City bar and was hospitalized with tuberculosis. He died at the Jewish Consumptive's Relief Society sanatorium in Colorado in 1954. He was 59. Acosta was buried at the Portal of the Folded Wings Shrine to Aviation at Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery in North Hollywood, California. Legacy In 2014, Acosta was posthumously inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame, along with pilot and astronaut James McDivitt, the first female airline captain Emily Warner, Cirrus founders and designers Dale and Alan Klapmeier, and homebuilt aircraft racer Steve Wittman. See also Flight airspeed record References Further reading The New York Times, New York City, November 4, 1921; "Bert Acosta Wins Air Race Trophy; New York Aviator Defeats Five Contestants For The Pulitzer Silver Prize. H.E. Hartney Badly Hurt Parachute Jumper Drowned By Falling Into River After A 1,000-foot Leap At Omaha. Omaha, Nebraska, November 3, 1921. Bert Acosta of New York won the annual Pulitzer silver trophy race for heavier-than-air craft here today, defeating a field of five other contestants one of whom, H. E. Hartney of New York, was injured when his plane crashed near Loveland, Iowa." The New York Times, New York City, October 2, 1922; "Brings Plane To Earth Without Landing Gear. Bert Acosta Comes Down Safely at Selfridge Field. Astonishes the Onlookers. Mount Clemens, Michigan, October 1, 1922. Landing the Navy Bee Line racer, which he was testing preparatory to its entry in the airplane races at Selfridge Field, October 12, 13 and 14, Bert Acosta brought the plane to Earth this afternoon without the use of its landing gear." The New York Times, New York City, October 7, 1923; "Aviator Sent to Jail; Judge Gives Bert Acosta Five Days for Driving Auto While Drunk." The New York Times, New York City, January 25, 1928; "Jersey Sheriff Wants Bert Acosta's Plane, Which Flew Away After His Attachment. Bert Acosta's Fokker monoplane The Splitdorf is wanted in Bergen County, New Jersey. Under Sheriff Jack Donaldson wants