Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-07-16
|Dz|KOWSK| DIED
IN BURNING PLANE
Story of Inflated Polish
Flight Reveals Tragic
Details.
Nv the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
HORTA, Azores, July 16.-Maj
Casimir Kubala, painfully injured him
self, tried in vain to rescue his COM
their burning plane. the Marshal
Pilsudski, when it crashed in Graciosa
Island Saturday night, ending trans
atlantic venture.
The first complete account of the
disastrous termination Of the two
Polish flyers brilliant attempt to fly
from LIE Bourget to New York was
given to the Associated Press today by
a witness, one of those who sought TO
save the lives of both airmen.
HIS narrative revealed that both
Kubala and Idzikowski were found
strapped inside their plane, which was
upside down in a corn field, near the
village of Santa Cruz. Idzikowski's
legs appeared to be broken, and so
pinioned beneath him he could not be
extracted from the cabin before the
gasoline tanks exploded and set the
plane afire.
Crowd Held Kubala Back.
Those attempting the rescue be-
Ueyed Idzikowski was already dead When
finally the advancing flames made them
desist. Kubala, slightly dazeo WIN
fumes from the gasoline tank, WhlcA
had been opened to permit dumping,
attempted to rush into the cabin,
virtual cauldron Of flame, for one last
effort, but the crowd held him pacK
Mai IdzikoWski's body was not re-
moved from the plane until oayoreaK
Sunday, a military guard standing by
all night. A ceremonious funeral was
given Sunday afternoon at O'CLOCK,
the entire island civilian and military
population following the coffin to
special vault.
The Polish training ship Iskra ar
rived at Santa Cruz at pm. SUNDAY
and the body was withdrawn from the
vault and placed aboard 1t Tor trans
portation to Poland. 1t was taken en-
route to this islands little church for
a final requiem, the coffin covered with
Polish and Portuguese flags.
The Iskra will bring the BODY ana
MAJ. Kubala to Horta. Maj. kuoala
, condition has caused no anxiety an;i
! according to the Graciosa Islam
doctors he should be all right in a feS
]. DAYS. He received painful injuries ON
the head.
It was Just after pm, local time
"a pm. Eastern standard time), Satur-
day when the big gray plane appeared
over Graciosa. 1t made three circles
around the village of Santa Cruz, on
the third turn coming very low. Inc
residents thought from this and the
sound of the planes missing motors 1t
wished to descend.
No one was able to indicate suitable
landing place-almost no one on the
island had ever seen an airplane before.
Nearly all the fiatter places in that H1s-
trict are dangerous and unsafe for ssShy-
thing of the sort, streWn with l~sks
and boulders and pitted with holes
Tanks Exploded.
The plane suddenly descended In
field a few miles from Santa Cruz and
the villages entire population rushed
to the scene, finding it upside down. II
had crashed through low stone wall
where one wing was caught, swinging
it around and capsizing 1t.
While the rescuerS worked there was
q terrific explosion, the force of which
threw the rescuers to the ground.
I The plane Immediately caught fire
; and several of the rescuerS were burned.
They saw the flames licking at the body
Of the luckless Idzikowski, and never
abandoned their labor until they felt he
: was dead and it would be futile and
dangerous to try further. The scene
drove Kubala, painfully injured, almost
to frenzy.
Kubala, when he had somewhat re-
covered from his experience, said they
had motor trouble and that the fumes
from the open gasoline tank had made
him almost unconscious.