Evening star., 1926-08-25
FIND LIEUT.. BELTS,
SKULL FRACTURED,
! SAVED BY HIS GRIT
Highway Employees Take
Army Flyer to Hospital in a
|. Critical Condition.
CRAWLED FOR 51-2 HOURS
! TO ROAD AFTER CRASH
Surgeon Rushed to Bellefonte.
Recovery Expected-May
Bring Officer Here.


BELLEFONTE. Pa, August 25.-
Lieut.. Cyrus *. Bettis. Army flying
ace. missing since Monday, was found
alive in the Seven Sister Mountains
today and is now in the Centre County
Hospital here in serious, but not
critical condition.
The officers left leg is broken below
the knee; his skull is fractured in two
places, and he has severe decorations
on the face and head.
The Army officer owes hfs life to his
grit Buried deep in the thick forest,
where no one could find him or his
wrecked plane. Lieut.. Bettis crawled
for FIVE and Il half hours through the
tangled underbrush until he came to
a roadway. where he was later found
by two State highway employees.
Lost Way i'm Fog.
Accompanied by two other planes.
Lieut.. Bettis was flying from the
Sesquicentennial grounds, Philadel-
phia, to IelfridGe Field in Michigan.
. when he ran into a fog on Monday
afternoon approximately 20 miles
southeast of Bellefonte and lost his
way. In searching for a landmark he
crashed against the side of noun
tain and fell. This was at lis pm.
In falling one wing of the plane
caught in a tree and the machine
wrapped itself around the trunk,
breaking the force of the fall.
Whether Lieut.. Bettis was rendered
unconscious in striking the ground
is not yet known, as he is in no con-
dition to talk. What information
was obtained was given by him to the
two highway employees who took him
to the hospital.
Bettis was found on the main high
way running from Lewistown to
Bellefonte. The section of the road
where he lay when picked up is under
reconstruction and traffic is detoured
3 or miles away. He was discov-
cred on the road at $3.50 am. by the
two men on their way to work.
Feared TO Leave Plane.
The lieutenant was very weak from
loss of blood and lack of food and
water, and the highway employees did
not question him at lenG h. He told
them of having managed to crawl
from the Nreckage of his plane and
for hours calling for help. He
feared to leave the plane, as it was
ma arker from the air for other flyers
Bettis finally decided to help him.
self instead of waiting for assistance
to reach him and he began to crawl
In a direction from which he oc
casionally heard a noise. AT last he
reached the road and some time after
ward was found.
At the hospital it was stated that
in addition to his injuries Lieut.. Bettis
was suffering from exhaustion The
opinion was expressed that he would
recover.
Wrecked Plane Sought.
Lieuts. John j. Williams and Luther
s. Smith. who were flying the other
two planes to Selfridge Field with
Lieut.. Belts, were in Bellefonte when
the injured officer was brought here.
They were awaiting clear weather to
continue their search by airpla
They Immediately left for Seven
Mountains in search Of the wrecked
plane.
officers at the Sesquicentennial
grounds at Philadelphia were in com
munication with Rellefonte and re-
Quested the hospital to spare nothing
to make Lieut.. Bettis comfortable.
The hospital authorities were told that
an Army flying surgeon had left
Philadelphia and would be in Belle.
fonte tonight.
The accident to Lieut.. Bettis takes
him out of the air races at Philadel-
phia next month. He holds the record
Of 24S.S9 miles an hour made in 1925
and won the Pulitzer Trophy for his
feat.