The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1936-01-15
Luxury Ship PIunges Into
Swamp; IA Passengers
Are Victims.
Continued From Page One)

ample. It's pilot, Jerry Marshall, hae
had years of experience and wa;
considered by his employers us one
of the best in the business. Al
least four emergency landing fields
we're available in the vicinity.
The plane left Memphis at 7:0s
p. m. Fifteen minutes later her CO.
pilot, Glenn Freeland, reported BY
radio that all was well. Soon aft
erward, natives saw the machine
flying low over the main line of the
Rock Island Railroad.
A few minutes later there was a
terrific crash in the swamp. Hours
later, rescue party, after wadine
through mud and swamp ooze that
at times was waist deep, came upon
a scene of indescribable horror.
Cuts OFF Fuel Lines
Pilot Marshall apparently had
warned his passengers. All had their
safety belts adjusted But so ter
rife was the crash, that in several
cases the belts had cut bodies in
half.
For several hundred yards the tops
of the swamp oaks were sheared off
Bits Of fuselage and the comfortable
interior fittings of the liner hung
on twigs and branches. Parts OF
the plane were found over an area
of four acres.
The condition of bodies inside the
smashed cabin sickencd some of the
rescue party. Over all permeated a
nauseating odor of high test gaso.
line.
Action Prevents Fire
Pilot Marshall, apparently in g
mad fight to save his passengers
and plane until the last instant, hac
cut off his fuel lines, thus prevent.
ing a fire. Gasoline had beer
splashed for many yards around.
At dawn, as news of the tragedy
spread over the countryside, made
up of flat country with swamp
and cultivated areas alternating
curiosity driven hundreds began ar.
irving. Soon afterward 1000 person.
were standing on the highway anc
fighting their way through the
swamp to the scene.
G. r. Smith, president of Amer.
lean Airlines, ordered an immediate
investigation from Forth Worth
where news of the tragedy reached
him. Department of Commerce
officials in Washington also ordered
an investigations But circumstance.
of the disaster indicated that a full
explanation might never be known
Farmer Hears Crash
AS we'll as comparative time
could be established, George Jones
a farmer living two miles north o
Goodwin and mile from the swami
where the wreckage was founc
heard an airplane over his HON
As minutes after the Southerne
told Memphis that all was well
Suddenly, as Jones listened-h
thought the plane flying UNUSUAL.
Iowa motor sputtered and quit. Al
instant later he heard a neav.
CT ash.
Goodwin is Is miles southwest O.
Forrest City and Forrest City is A
miles on the same line from Mem
phis. Jones news, telephoned tx
the Memphis airport, mustered sew
eral score men from Forrest City
Goodwin and the countryside
Others arrived from Memphis ant
son the searching parties hat
scattered and we're slush- slushinl
through the dank and oozing swamp
lands.
Buried in Mud, Water
Soon after l a. M, the search.
lights of the searchers picked ou
the wreckage of the Southerner
The cabin had been smashed am
partly buried in rancid swamp
water and mud
One motor had been smashed
back into the plane Another was {
hundred yards away, buried in ooze
The rescuers plodded bacl
through the swamp, water ane
murk often knee deep, to the roat
where farmers were waiting with
wagons and mules which were LEI
back to the scene. These were uset
to carry the bodies to the road
where they were placed in ambu
lances and sent to Forrest City.
Airline authorities and air trans
port experts were at loss to ex.
plain the crash. If one motor hac
failed, they said, Pilot Marshal
surely could have kept his ship II
the air. If both had failed, emer.
gency fields were available.
No Witnesses to Crash
1t left Newark at 1890 D. m
Tuesday. 1t made stops at Phila
delphia, Washington, Nashville ane
Memphis. Its scheduled stops there.
after were Little Rock, Dallas, For
Worth, and thence by several stop,
to Los Angeles. The crew aboaro
her had taken charge at Memphi.
and were to have relinquished com.
mand at Fort Worth.
No one saw the crash, though {
number of nersons heard the engines
droning overhead. Goodwin, being
on the main line of the Rock Islanc
Railroad and hence on the MAR
Southern airline, is accustomed tt
planes flying overhead and resident!
merely noted that the evening plane
from Memphis was on time.
But from torn tree tops, observers
traced the fall of the plane. Ap-
parently Pilot Marshall, one or botf
engines dead, was gliding his plane