The next day, shortly after British ace Arthur V. Rogers took off for a test flight on August 12 in the twin engine "Angel of Los Angeles" at Western Air Express Field at Montebello, California, the aircraft reached an altitude of and began acting "queer"; Rogers jumped out of the plane as it suddenly dived towards the ground, but died as either his foot or parachute snagged on the aircraft as it crashed. Leland A. Bryant, the designer of the aircraft, was to have served as Rogers's navigator, but was not on board during the test flight.