Bombshell Fights For America

Author notes

Ch.3 page 8

wentworth360

on Dec. 16, 2009

Info: Hughes is remembered for his eccentric behavior and reclusive lifestyle in later life, caused in part by a worsening obsessive–compulsive disorder.

Hughes was involved in a near-fatal aircraft accident on July 7, 1946, while piloting the experimental U.S. Army Air Force reconnaissance aircraft, the XF-11, over Los Angeles.Hughes sustained significant injuries in the crash; including a crushed collar bone, 24 broken ribs, crushed chest with collapsed left lung shifting his heart to the right side of the chest cavity and numerous third-degree burns. This lead to opiate addiction which only worsened his disorder.

In 1948, Hughes created a new division of the company, the Hughes Aerospace Group.