Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-03-31
FOUR DIE ASPLANE
BURNS FTERCRASH
Transport Liner PIunges in
Rough Mountain Pass
in California.

BY the Associated Press.
BEAUMONT, Calf, March 3o.-The
toughest mountain pass in American
air lanes today took its toll of four
lives when an air transport liner, bound
from Los Angeles to Ell Paso, Tex,
crashed in the fog, exploded and burn
ed into an unacceptable mass with
its pilot and three men passengers.
In heavy fog, with disabled engine,
the Standard Air Line monoplane, a
Fokker with one engine, went to its
doom in the heart of the pass just
three miles north Of here.
The victims were: Delbert R. Everett,
jr,, pilot, of Los Angeles; r. L. Bake,
wealthy business man of Los Angeles;
George Nico, wealthy Los Angeles con-
tractor, and T. ]. Kelly, stock broker
salesman of Los Angeles and San An
tonic, Tex.
Fog Blankets Pass.
The monoplane, which left Lost An
geles at 8 am, found the pass blanket
ed with fog, which extended in cloud
formation to the top of the pass be-
tween Mount Badly on the north and
Mount San Jacinto to the south. both
of which are over 10000 feet high.
Residents of Beaumont, which is in
the center of the 22-mile pass separat-
ing the Imperial and Coachella Desert
from the fertile San Bernardino Valley,
first heard the plane flying low in the
fog at els o'clock. After passing Beau
mont southwark it turned north again
and was seen and heard with ats engine
missing and pounding instead OF the
usual steady drone.
Three miles north Of here .rancners
said they heard screams, followed I'M
mediately by a crash and explosion. Inc
cabin ship burst into flames.
When ranchers reached 1t they touno
q mass of charred wreckage. While
this is the first known fatal crash IN
the pass. a number of planes have gone
down in the bumpy weather, although
no passenger planes have been known
to have fallen in this vicinity before.
The pass is usually windy, being nat
ural funnel from the heated desert re-
gions to the south, through its snow
capped mountains to the orchard
groves to the north.
Small planes have been known 70
drop as much as ZOO feet in the bumps
of downward currents in the pass and
the large air transports have dropped
as much as 500 feet in these bumps.
Fly High Through Pass.
In cloudy or foggy weather the large
fransnorts usually take to an eleva-
ton of 10000 feet through the pass,
unless there is an ample ceiling below
the fog Almost at the time the south
ward-bound transport crashed today, q
large tri-motored air liner northbound
from Phoenix was cruising over the
pass above the clouds.
Mr.. Kelly, one of the victims, was
rushing to the bedside OF his wife IN
San Antonio when he met death in
the crash. At the Hotel Commodore
in Los Angeles, where he had been
stopping for some time, it was learned
that he received long distance call
early today from his wife's parents IN
San Antonio, urging him to hurry home,
that his wife had been injured IN an
accident.
The telephone conversation was in
terrupted BY the line going out. He
Immediately made reservations on the
Standard Air Line.
Delbert Everitt, jr., 27-year-old pilot
who was another of the victims. had
given his father his first airplane ride
only Thursday. The youthful pilot
took his father, veteran railroad en-
rineer. along with him to Los Angeles
from Phoenix for the initial ride, and
was en- route to Phoenix and Ell Paso
on his regular fight today when his
craft met with disaster. The 1atner
remained behind. 49,
A I2-year-old boy, Gerald Crane.
living in the mountains near the scene
of the tragedy, apparently was the only
witness to the crash.
Sees Plane Plunge.
Crane. working on his fathers ranch,
heard the plane sail overhead, he SAID.
and then in the dim fog he watched
the big ship falter and plunge against
tle nountainside. He thought the
crash occurred about $50 o'clock this
morning. A watch removed from one
of the bodies had stopped at GID
o'clock. TO-
flames almost as 1t hit the rocky Ter
rain and then an explosion: followed;
He heard screams, and too frightened
tn annroach the death scene, he fed
to his home and told his parents OF the
tragedy. The boys father summoned
the authorities.
The boy said he thought the motor
was running just before the impact.
but because of the heavy fog ne barely
saw the ship before it crashed into
the mountainside.
Ranchers who arrived at the scene
were frustrated in their efforts to re-
cover the bodies at first because OF the
intense heat cast from the flaming fab
rio of the ship. Dirt was thrown over
the wreckage to save the bodies from
cremation, and later in the morning,
over the only route leading out OF the
mountains, rocky path, the remains
were taken to Banning.
Rn11rE TO BE ABANDONED.