Evening star., 1932-08-24
Flyer Guides SearChers by
CirCIing Over Area Near
Annapolis.
ACCIDENT WAS FIRST
IN CAREER OF AIRMAN
Department of Commerce Officials
to Take Report of Manager
of Airport as Final.

While searchers headed by Sheriff
r. Glenn Prout combed the marshes
and woods south of the Defense high
way near Annapolis, Md, for the body
Of Miss Marjorie Fletcher, who leaped
| 1900 feet from Washington Hoover
Airport plane yesterday, hearing con-
! Quoted by A. Theodore Brady, States
attorney for Anne Arundel County,
cleared Pilot Roger Scott Of any blame
in connection with the suicide.
Unofficially, authorities present at
the hearing at Annapolis, voiced the
opinion that there was nothing Scott
could have done to prevent the Jump
and that airport officials from whom
! the young woman chartered the plane
were not to blame in sny way.
! Scott appeared at the hearing after
guiding the searching party by circling
! the area within which the woman'S
| body fell. The area described by Scott's
| plane, the same one from which Miss
| Fletcher leaped and in which thousands
| of sightseers have flown over Washing
| ton, is a circle about miles across,
with its center at the Three Mile Oak,
on the Defense Highway, 3 miles west
Of Annapolis.
/ CIrcleS 10 DlreCt k1unts
| After circling so as to direct Sheriff
Prout's searchers into the portion OF
this area south of Defense Highway,
Scott landed at the Annapolis Flying
Club field on the Marlboro road 312
miles from Annapolis and went to the
office of the States attorney, where he
told of the circumstances leading up to
J the plunge.
I The flight had been without incident
| up to the time of the plunge, Scott
! said. Twice his passenger, in large,
open passenger cockpit in front of him.
had turned her head and smiled, Scott
testified.
About miles out Of Annapolis. the
| pilot said, he looked down over the side
! of the ship to get his bearings. When
he looked up, he was startled to see
Miss Fletcher standing in the forward
cockpit. She had released her safety
| belt.
Before Scott had time to realize what
was happening her hat blew of and
she stepped over the side Of the cockpit
and slipped past the trailing edge Of
the wing. Her body half turned and
he saw her face. The expression was
tense and strained like that on the
faces of parachute jumpers when they
go over the side, Scott said.
AS she fell she threw out an arm as
If to clutch the plane and Scott made
| a frenzied lunge to grab her. but she
was out of reach and fell. her body
twisting head downward. Her effcrt to
grasp the plane, authorities believe was
an involuntary gesture, as she appar-
emily had planned her suicide plunge
deliberately and carefully.
Unable to Find Spot.
Scott watched the body drop through
space and strike in what appeared to
be ditch or ravine filed with bushes
| and few trees. He had Just passed
the Annapolis Reservoir. Details of the
field were clearly impressed on his mind,
he said, but in the stress and excite
ment CT the moment he failed to notice
major landmarks and later was unable
to locate the precise spot.
Mr.. Brady also questioned Mr. and
Mrs. H. C. McConaughy, AIS Forty
eighth street, with whom Miss Fletcher
was living in Washington, and confer
red with Sheriff Prout and Deputy
| Sheriff Fernando WeemS. After absolv-
ing the pilot and airport officials Of
recklessness, Brady said that the case
apparently was suicide.
| Scott appeared shaken by the ex-
perience. 1t was the first time m four
years of flying at Washington Hoover
Airport that any mishap has marred
his record. During that time he has
| carried a total of 34,974 passengers,
| chiefly on sightseeing flights over the
city. officials of the local airport do
not know Of another pilot in the United
States who has flown as many paSSen-
gers as Scott.
officials of the aeronautics branch OF
the Department of Commerce, satisfied
| that the plunge was made deliberately
! by the woman, with suicidal intent, in
dicated today that they would not un-
dertake an independent investigation
of the case, but would accept as final
report from John S. Wynne, manager
of the airport.
Brother Is Teacher.
Robert Fletcher, brother of the 81
yesr-old former school teacher, was eX-
pected to arrive in Annapolis today to
aid in the search, according to Associated
Press dispatches. He is a teacher in
Oberlin College, Ohio, from which Miss
Fletcher was graduated.
Miss Fletcher was the only daughter
of Clayton Fletcher, Forestville, Chau-
tauqua County, N. Y, and formerly
was a teacher in the Forestyille High
School. She headed the English de-
partment Of the school until she
resigned nearly three years ago, due
to the illness of her mother, who died
early this year.
Miss Fletcher came to Washington
about two months ago and since had
been the house guest Of Mrs. Nc
Conaughy. Mrs. McConaughy, who. be-
fore her marriage. was Miss Zella
Crosby, had been a Forestville chum
and schoolmate of the young woman.
Miss Fletcher is survived only by her
father and brother.