Evening star., 1941-02-28
BY WILLARD COPE.

MAJ Those significant, charac-
teristic things men do and say in
moments of high drama, lighting
the scene with swift flashes, were
recounted here by survivors and
rescuers to reconstruct an Eastern
Air Lines plane crash early yester-
day in a pine woods near Gambler
Airport in which seven persons died
and nine others were injured.
Responsibility weighed heavily
on Capt: Eddie Rickenbacker,
World War ace and president of
the line, for, caught though he was
in the wreckage and in great pain
from a crushed left hip. smashed
ribs and deeply -gashed head, he
called to the other passengers sew
eral times:
I'm sorry this happened to
you boys"
Frequently, also, he shouted
warnings, Don't light any matches"
for the wings, broken fuselage and
crumpled trees were wet with
gasoline.
And when 10 or more pilots,
stewards and mechanics from
Gambler Field finally reached the
scene and extricated the victims,
Capt. Rickenbacker-the last to go
out through a passage hacked from
one wall of the plane-told the
workers:
You boys are doing a damned
good job. That's the way"
Believes in Angels Now.
More metaphysical was H. A.
Littledale. assistant managing edi-
tor of the New York Times. whose
spinal column was believed broken,
but whose wife escaped with much
slighter injuries. Said Mr.. Little
dale. lying inside the cabin dazed,
when two farm boys crawled in to
help him:
Now I believe in angels"
Outside. a little later. lying in
great pain, Mr. Littledale dictated
to a rescuer. who happened to be
a newSpaperman, telegram of
regret to a resident Of Mexico City
who was to have been his host.
Then, as the reporter sought a
description of what had happened,
an attendant tried to intervene,
saying: This man is badly hurt"
No, that's all right" protested
Mr.. Littledale. I'm a newspaper
man. This is big story. Ill tell
what I can"
And he did.
The clearest account came from j.
S. Rosenfeld. New Orleans business
man, who was thrown clear and
not badly hurt when the giant twin
engined ship, flying on its proper
radio beam in fog. but too low, took
a left bank into tall pine and then
moved down a row of them as it
crashed over and plunged circularly
downward. Mr. Rosenfeld said:
1T was very hot in the plane and
it caused me to wake up. / was in
pajamas and unloosened my safety
belt and got out of my berth. l
called for the steward. I wanted
him to open the ventilator to get a
little air in the ship because it
was so hot and stuffy.
Recalls Hearing Crash.
The steward came and opened
the ventilator for me. Then he
moved of. The plane was coming
down and figured we we're getting
set to land in Atlanta. I'm a little
confused about what happened next,
because it happened so quickly.
Il recall vividly hearing the plane
strike the top branches of trees.
The lights went out. The next thing
I knew, a side of the ship had been
ripped off and the plane crashed
over on one side. was tossed clear
of the plane. going right out of the
side that had been ripped open.
"I don't know how far was
tossed. While I never lost conscious
ness, I certainly was dazed and bad
" shaken up. I saw the wrecked
plane. I heard loud means and
groans from the ship and around the
ship, 1t was pitch dark. 1t wasn't a
nightmare; it was just a dream. l
CROPPED around a bit. for I found I
could walk, although my legs and
back ached horribly. I saw two or
three moving shapes. I couldn't see
very we'll and called out. heard Roy
Sewell's voice crying Who's that?'
l knew Sewell and answered back:
It's me. Roy-Jessie Rosenf1eld. l
didn't know you were on this ship.
Sewell called back, This is Sewell,
of Bremen
Weather Bitter Cold.
"I made my way in the dark to-
ward Sewell's voice. He had ap-
parently been tossed clear. too. Near
him were Brady, Fineberg and an
other man. I never did find out
who the other man was.
"Fineberg seemed to be hurt worse
than any of the others. He moaned
and called out: I'm about all in,
I'm about all in We tried to cheer
him up. Sewell seemed badly hurt,
too. No one was strong enough to
move around much. told Fineberg
to lean his back against mine.
"All during this, I heard the
groans and means from the ship, and
cries for help.
1T was bitter cold. Sewen was
fully clothed, but I was in my pa