of TWA on February 21, 1947. Frye was very well connected in Washington D.C., and soon landed a coveted prize as director of one of the German corporations seized during World War II, in this case the U.S. residual of IG Farben. On April 14, 1947, he was elected Chairman of the Board of General Aniline and Film Corp, and its subsidiaries General Dyestuffs Corporation, and Ansco. Frye remained President of General Aniline until 1955, when the Eisenhower administration unwound these holdings through the Office of Alien Property Custodian. In 1955, Frye formed his own aircraft manufacturing company, the Frye Corporation. In December 1956, Grumman Aircraft agreed to produce the Frye Safari, a four-engine, Short Takeoff & Landing (STOL) airlifter, if Frye could find financing. Ernst Zindel, who designed the Junkers Ju 52, was retained as an assistant. However, the project was cancelled. Death and honors On February 3, 1959, while driving home after work in Tucson, Arizona, Fyre was killed in a car accident by a drunk driver. It was exactly 33 years to the day after his founding of Standard Air Lines. The death received limited coverage, due to the deaths of famous musicians Ritchie Valens, Buddy Holly, and The Big Bopper in a plane crash on the same day. He was originally buried in Tucson, but now rests in Wheeler, Texas. Frye received the Medal for Merit for wartime contributions as a civilian in December 1946. In 2006, Frye was inducted into the International Air & Space Hall of Fame at the San Diego Air & Space Museum. Frye was elected into the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 1992. In Martin Scorsese's 2004 biopic of Howard Hughes, The Aviator, Frye was portrayed by actor Danny Huston. References External links Davis-Monthan Jack Frye Profile National Aviation Hall of Fame Jack Frye Aviation Pioneer Jack and Helen Frye Story TWA Museum Kansas City metropolitan area Trans World Airlines people 1904 births 1959 deaths Commercial aviators Airline founders Aviation pioneers American aviation businesspeople American airline chief executives Aviators from Texas Aviators from Oklahoma National Aviation Hall of Fame inductees