Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-09-08
Air-Liner Lands
ON Mountain
While Ablaze.
NO SIGN OF LIFE
NEAR TRAGEDY
Officials Hasten to
Reach DesOlate
Spot.
BY WALTER B. CLAUSEN.
Associated Press Staf Writer.

LOS ANGELES, September Z H7.
Racing from a storm, the mono
plane City of San Francisco
crashed into the side of a 10000
foot mountain and burned last
Tuesday in the most deSolate Sec
ton of Central New Mexico, with
death to its human cargo Of one
woman and seven men, advices
to the TranScontinental Air
Transport Co. here today indi-
Gated.
The wreckage Of the big tri-
motor, all-metal air liner, twist
ed mass of metal, was discovered
on the south slope of Mount Tay-
lor at 11:03 o'clock this morning
by a Western Air Express east
bound passenger plane.
Lieut.. George K. Rice, pilot OF
the Western Air Express trans
port, which had four passengers
to Albuquerque, made the dis
peared to be bit of snow on the
south side of the 10,000-foot
mountain. He swerved his big
Fokker monoplane around" and
zoomed down to within 1000 feet.
There the appal ling sight of twisted
rugged sections Of the wild West. Not
trees surrounding it was revealed to
Lieut.. Rice, his co-pilot, and the four
passengers.
Circled Scene Thrice.
Thrice did Lieut.. Rice circle the
/ tragic scene It is one of the most
rugged sections of the wild west. Not
only were there no landing possibilities
/ in the vicinity, but there were no roads
leading to the scene and even passage
by horse appeared to be impossible.
No sign of any living thing was found
near the wreckage.
The trained eyes of Lieut.. Rice. who
was a. World War flyer, instantly re-
vealed to him the tragedy. knowing
that the plane had circled Grants, N.
Mex, Tuesday just about noon, and
this scene being to the northeast, 1t
was apparent that Pilot j. B. Stowe OF
the City of San Francisco was racing
back toward Albuquerque to avoid the
| storms which held other air transports
| to the ground on that fatal day.
One Woman Aboard.
There were one woman and seven
men aboard the City Of San Francisco.
| It left Albuquerque on Tuesday morn
! ing, in face of adverse weather, hoping
! to get through to Los Angeles that
! afternoon.
| The passengers aboard were:
! Mrs. Corina Raymond, wife of George
| B. Raymond, of Glendale. Calf,
clerk of the Transcontinental Air
| Transport, Inc, owners Of the City OF
| San Francisco.
Amasa B. McGaffey, wealthy lumber
man of Albuquerque, N. Mex.
William Livermore, prominent ship
ping man of Boston, Mass.
M. M. Campbell of Cincinnati, paper
concern sales manager.
william Henry Beers, New York. Golf
/ Magazine editor
| Members of the crew were:
J. B. Stowe, chief pilot Of Clovis. N.
Mex.
Edwin A. Dietel. co-pilot, of New
Braunfels, Tex
C. F. Canfield, New York, courier.
Conduct Spectacular Search.
When the disappearance Of the plane
most spectacular air search ever con-
Quoted got under way.
Scores of Army, Navy, Marine Corps
and civilian planes sailed through the
cloudy and storm-beset skies of the
widest section Of the continental
United States.
Thousands of others joined in the
search by land. There were Indian
runners, scouts of the Apache, zuni.
Hopi and Navajo tribes, cowboys, pros
pectors and motorists.
More than fifty thousand miles OF
western New Mexico and eastern Arl-
zona were covered from the sky and
ground. Rumors of all sorts developed
| each day, which sent searchers into all
sections of both States and even into
Mexico.
But it remained for another trans
port plane, operating over the same
route as the Inflated liner, to discover
the tragic termination of the last cruise
of City of San Francisco.
| It was shortly before noon today
that word was flashed into the ofices
~, Douo rn111raY