James Easter Heathman ( April 7 , 1917 – January 29 , 2008 ) , also known as J. E. Heathman , was an American former farmer and U.S. Army veteran , who , as a teenager in 1931 , witnessed and discovered the crash of a Transcontinental & Western Air airliner , which killed eight people , most notably University of Notre Dame football coach , Knute Rockne . Heathman , who was 13 years old at the time he discovered the plane crash with his father on March 31 , 1931 , was the last living witness to the plane crash . Heathman later became a Knute Rockne historian and often led free tours of Notre Dame fans to the site of the crash , especially during the last 20 years of his life
a Transcontinental & Western Air airliner
1931 Transcontinental & Western Air Fokker F-10 crash
James Heathman