Claytie: The Roller-Coaster Life of a Texas Wildcatter

19. I'm afraid the plane has gone down."

The primary campaign was humming along on a high note in the run-up to Valentine’s Day 1990. A Republican Women’s rally on February 13 was a roaring success in Sterling City, where Claytie’s mother, Chic, had attended school. The rally was held at a historic home and drew a historic turnout. “The house was full, the yard was full, and I don’t know where they got those five hundred women in little Sterling City,” said Denise Kelly, who returned afterward to Midland with Modesta and Claytie’s mother to attend a political fund-raiser and rally at the Midland Center. The event was special for several reasons. The crowd included Baby Jessica McClure, the little Midland girl rescued from a well three years earlier in a nationally televised recovery effort. Claytie had sent his plane and pilot to New Mexico to pick up a mining engineer to assist in Jessica’s dramatic rescue, inducing Oprah Winfrey to refer to him on her show as “Mr. Private Jet.” The Midland rally also provided an opportunity for Claytie to spend quality time with several close friends he hadn’t talked with in weeks because of campaign obligations. Nephew Clay Pollard and his wife, Jeanne, were also in town for the political gala, and Clay wasstruckbyhoweveryonewassoupbeat.“Thecampaignwasgoing wellandeverybodywasinsuchanunbelievablygoodmood,”hesaid. After the rally, Claytie and Modesta gathered for an extended chat with a small group of friends and employees, among them “ExI ’m afraid the plane has gone down.” 19 “ P O L I T I C A L A D V E N T U R E S 249 ecutive Sidekick” Bob Smith, Williams Companies president Jamie Winkel, and Randy Kidwell, the former president of ClayDesta Communications who was returning to the company. Aaron Giebel, a close friend and member of Claytie’s bank board, and Williams Aviation Company pilot Ken Mardis also attended the rally. Besides personal matters and politics, the conversations that night focused on business meetings in Dallas and San Antonio the next day and who was flying where and how. Clay and Jeanne Pollard overheard Jamie Winkel telling Claytie, “We need the MU-2 tomorrow . We’ve got a bank issue. We’ve got to go back to Dallas and so we need to use that plane.” “Sure,” Claytie replied. “Whatever you need.” The plan was to take board members of ClayDesta Bank to Dallas for their session, then fly to San Antonio to visit the company ’s exploration office. Since Pollard had a scheduled sales meeting with his new boss in San Antonio, his wife suggested that he grab a seat on Claytie’s twin-engine Mitsubishi 2, called the MU-2. Jeanne Pollard knew that Modesta, as a director of the bank, would be making the trip to Dallas and that Clay always enjoyed being with her and flying on one of Claytie’s planes. Modesta had told her mother that she would be on the Dallas flight. But Clay reluctantly decided he’d better fly commercial to ensure his arrival in the Alamo City in time for the midmorning meeting with his new boss. Meanwhile, Randy Kidwell had made commercial reservations since he was going to Dallas on business. But at the rally, Winkel suggested Kidwell travel with them. The next morning, February 14, Claytie called the Midland of- fice from his home all aglow over the previous evening’s success and the opportunity to spend time with friends. “Wasn’t last night just grand?” he gushed to Denise. They reviewed his schedule for the day and ended the brief conversation. At practically the last minute, Modesta decided that with several other ClayDesta directors going, it was not imperative that she 250 P A R T F O U R attend the Dallas meeting. Meanwhile, another company executive, Paul Latham, intended to make the Valentine’s Day flight, but several events forced a change in his plans as well. And so it was that shortly after seven o’clock on a cold, overcast winter morning, the plane called MU-2 lifted off from a private Midland airpark bound for Dallas. Aboard the sleek little craft were pilot Ken Mardis, fifty-two; Jamie Winkel, forty-five; Aaron Giebel, sixty-three; Bob Smith, sixty-two; and Randy Kidwell, thirty-seven. After the triumphant and joyous rallies less than twenty-four hours earlier, the group was almost certainly upbeat as it...