The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1936-04-08
RADIO BEACON
IS BLAMED BY
AVIATION LINE
U. S. Denies Charge That
DireCtionaI Beam
Was Faulty.
Continued From Page One)

severely. Both are guarded closely.
The bodies of the II victims-nine
passengers and two pilots-have
been claimed by friends and rela-
lives.
They were carried out over the
steep mountain trail yesterday aft
er mountaineers had hacked path
from the mangled plane to wind
Ing mountain road.
From the company's resumes Of
Miss Changers story, it appeared
that Pilot Ferguson, flying blind in
thick fog, was unaware Of his
danger until a split second before
the tWin-motored Douglass mono
plane crashed into the mountain
top shortly after 10 a. m. yesterday.
A short time earlier Miss Granger
had gone to the pilots cabin and
asked Ferguson how soon he would
land in Pittsburgh. Ferguson re-
piled. In a few minutes"
Miss Granger told her passengers
to adjust their straps (air passen-
gers are required to strap themselves
to their seats when plane is about
to land), and went to the tail of
the plane and sat down in her own
seat. A minute or so later the
plane crashed. She was thrown
clear and recovered consciousness
, looking at the sky"
This made it appear that Pilot
ferguson believed he was coming
into the Pittsburgh airport, some 40
miles north of the scene of the
crash. At approximately the same
time he told Miss Granger he was
going to land lin a few minutes, "
he said into his radiotelephone:
Flying blind at 5000 feet. Letting
down to land at Pittsburgh"
Message Heard at Pittsburgh
This message, picked up at T. w.
A. ground stations at Newark and
Pittsburgh, was the last word from
the plane. More than three hours
later, Miss Changers frantic voice,
coming over rural telephone lines
into Pittsburgh T. w. A. neadquar-
tiers, announced the tragedy.
Pilot Ferguson, with Co-pilot H. c
Lewis at his side, took off from
Newark at 7:45 a. m. yesterday in
good weather, with good weather
promised over the Pennsylvania
mountains, one of the worst
stretches Of flying country in tie
world
He landed at Camden and con-
tinued without incident until he
reached the mountains, where a
thick fog overlook him. 1t was cold
enough for ice to form on his wings
and air experts believed that when
he first saw the mountain looming
through the fog ahead, his plane
might have been so overweighted
1t could not respond to the controls
quickly enough to lift over it.
Bears Out Charge
Miss Changers story tended to
bear out the company'S charge that
the radio beam had not been func-
tioning properly, deceiving the pilot
into the belief that he was near the
Pittsburgh airport.
-Four of the victims were stu
dents of the Valley Forge Military
Academy, of Wayne, Pa, awarded
airplane trips for scholastic excel
lence. They were Robert G.. Evans,
Is, Lancaster, Pa; Crawford T..
Kelly, 18, McKeesport Pa; Donald
V. August, II, Grove City, Pa, and
Charles H. Smith, II, New Kensing-
ton, Pa.
The other victims were Frank
Hardeman, 33, and John j. O'Neil,
80, officials of a Jersey City local
of the International Brotherhood of
Iron Workers, en- route to union
convention in st. Louis; Guy r..
DARE, an engineer of Sac Paulo,
Brazil, and G.. W. Heffernan, a
salesman, of New York.