Evening star., 1940-09-06
Crash
Continued From First Page.)

from the direction in which the air.
plane had disappeared.
Seen Headed for Mountains.
Mrs. Matte r. Hickman, who lives
3l2 miles from the scene of the
crash, testified that the airplane
attracted her attention because it
was flying lower than any large
plane I ever saw" and that it
passed very close to her house, go
ing toward the mountain near the
foot of which the wreckage was
found.
Il hardly ever notice the air
planes when they are high but this
one was so low it attracted my at
tention," Mrs. Hickman said.
She said that everything seemed
to be all right with the plane" and
that she paid no further attention
after it had crashed. She also teS-
titled that the airplane was flying
into very dark sky and that al
though there was fog she was able
to see about a mile.
Just short time after the plane
passed she noticed one very heavy
flash of lightning in the direction in
which the plane had disappeared and
almost Immediately afterward heard
noise she could not identify.
Il asked my husband what he
thought the noise was, and he said
it might have been a truck on the
road" she said, but expressed the
opinion it was probably the noise of
the crash. In response to question:
ing, Mrs. Hickman was unable to
give any clear idea as to the alti-
tude of the plane. At one time she
said she thought it was about so
feet higher than the barn." but at
another time said she thought it was
high enough to clear the mountain.
She said she had seen small air.
planes flying at about the same alti-
tude, but could not remember ever
seeing large one so low.
Plane Headed Into Storm.
The first of the lay witnesses to
testify was Mrs. Dorothy Everhart,
who told of seeing the airliner fly
directly into the oncoming storm.
Il lost sight of the plane when a
sharp streak of lightning came
straight down and blinded me-" the
witness said, adding she was standing
on her porch when she saw the
plane go by her house.
Mrs. Everhart, whose home is ap-
proximately 3D. miles from the
scene of the crash, according to tes-
timony. said she heard a dull"
clap of thunder "a few seconds"
after she saw the lightning flash,
and then "a few seconds later
heard a roar OF motors for the first
time. II didn't hear anything after
that she declared
Awaited Shop Overhaul.
The airliner was a new ship
which had not yet been through
the shops for its first major over
haul, it was testified earlier by Lu-
ther Harris, vice president of
Pennsylvania Central Airlines in
charge of maintenance and engi-
neering. He said that the airplane
had been flown 565 hours and 54
minutes since it was accepted from
the manufacturers on May 25 of this
year. Under Federal and company
regulations it was due for major
overhaul at the end of 600 hours,
and was the next airplane in the
company fleet scheduled to go into
the shops at Pittsburgh, Mr.. Harris
testified.
He submitted documentary evi-
dence covering the entire history of
the plane, its engines and parts,
including a record of inspection and
maintenance checks at the end of
each Is, go and 100 hours of flying
time. 1t had flown 81 hours August
80 since the last 120-hour check.
Record of Pilots Presented.
Testimony as to the capabilities
of Capt. Lowell v. Scroggins and
First Officer ]. Paul Moore, in charge
of the ship at the time of the crash,
was introduced by James H. Car
michael, vice president in charge of
operations.
Capt. Scroggins had flown rs
hours and % minutes during Au-
gust, completing a total of 11,442
hours of flying time in his long
career as a pilot. He had flown
6l9 hours in the Douglas DC-3 type
of airplane which crashed and was
one of the first pilots on the airline
checked out" on this type of air.
plane. He had been flying DC-3s
exclusively since they first were
put into service between Washing
ton and Detroit January 2.
Mr.. Carmichael introduced docu-
ments relating to flight examina-
tions, checks on instrument flying
and other matters bearing on the
capability of the crew in charge of
the plane. He said that Capt.
Scroggins had been given a rating
of good" and that one recent writ