Evening star., 1937-01-29
z DEAD, FIVE HURT
NARMY AIR CRASH
NEARFR0NT ROYAL.
Pilot of Plane That Hit
Mountain Dies in Walter
Reed Hospital.
SOLDIER is BURNED
TO DEATH IN WRECKAGE
Others Rescued on Horseback by
Party Sent Out From Re.
mount Depot.

MVuAI DSPoGs
A second victim of the tragic mishap
In which an Army transport plane
plunged into the side Of Bilger Noun
tain, near Front Royal, Va, late yes
terday died this morning at Walter
Reed Hospital, where five companions
lie injured.
He was Lieut.. Joseph Zimmerman,
pilot, and a native of Sterling, Kans.,
who was seriously burned in the crash,
which came when the ship became lost
in a dense fog while returning to
Langley Field, Va, from a training
school near Detroit.
One member of the training detach-
ment-Pvt. Henry L. Med of Eynon,
Pa.-was burned to death in the wreck
age Of the plane when it fell 1000 feet
up the mountainside from the Army
Remount Depot, miles east of Front
Royal.
Two Others Critical.
Two others-Sergt. J. Addison Har-
vey of Hampton, Va, and Pvt. John
w. Anderson Of Greensville, Pa.-are
in a critical condition at Walter Reed
with severe burns about the face, head
and body, and staff officials at the
institution hold little hope for their
recovery.
Pvts. Altcc NJ Wright of Vinton
Va; Albert H. Fenton of Scranton,
Pa, and william c. Cardwell of West
Chester, Pa, escaped with minor burns
and their condition was reported to be
flair" this morning.
Col. Warren w. Whiteside, COM
manding officer at the remount reser-
vation, said the plane, in charge OF
Lieut.. Zimmerman, was turning back
to make a landing at Boiling Field.
in Washington, when the crash came.
It had become lost in fog while re-
turning from Detroit to its base at
Langley Field. "
Rescued on Horseback.
Wreckage of the huge ship. one OF
the, Army's type C-24 single-motored
transports, was found In a wooded
section about 1000 feet up the side
of Bilger Mountain. Victims were
brought down the mountain on horse
back, given first aid at the remount
station and transferred in ambulances
to Walter Reed. --------r-r ,1-, .. - :.
Col. Whiteside said al Of the men
IN the ship scrambled from the burn
ing wreckage but Med, who appar-
emily was so badly burned he was
unable to help himself. Fire probably
drove the others away when they at
tempted to help him, according to
Col Whiteside.
The transport circled Front Royal
several times and then headed east
ward, flying low. Col. Whiteside said
the ship flew over the post for a long
time, but the fog was so dense 1t
wasn't seen.
Twenty minutes later Ernest Will
iiams, a civilian employe of the post
for more than 20 years, who was in
charge of gang engaged in opening
paths through dense underbrush at
the edge of the reservation, called and
said he had heard the ship crash.
Battled Fog.
A searching party was sent out on
horseback at once and the wreckage
and injured were found lying about a
mile from the nearest road.
Pilot Zimmerman was too badly
burned to discuss the cause OF the
crash, officials said, but it was learned
the plane had made a stop earlier in
thee day at Fairfield, Ohio. One Of
the survivors said it had encountered
fog and low ceilings all the way from
Pittsburgh.
Med was a member of the 35th
Pursuit Squadron. Cardwell, Fenton
and Wright were attached to the seth
Service Squadron. Harvey was with
the First-Aid Base and Anderson was
attached to general headquarters.
It was believed several Of the planes
occupants were graduates of the tech
nical school.
Lieut.. Zimmerman, who was 20 years
old, was born in Alden, Kans., and Is
survived by his wife, Mrs. Ellen Hayes
Zimmerman, and two children, Joseph
Dale and Ellen Bond Zimmerman, who
lived with him at Langley Field.
He entered the United States Mill
tary Academy on July /, 1927. and
graduated July II, 1881, when he was
assigned to Field Artillery as second
lieutenant. He was transferred to the
Air Corps on July IA, 1888, and was
promoted to first lieutenant on August
!, 1885.
The dead pilot was graduate OF
both the primary school Of the Air
Corps at Randolph Field and its ad-
vanced school at Kelly Field. Both
fields are near San Antonio, Tex.