Evening star., 1941-03-05

ton in June, 1898. He is survived
by his widow, Mrs. Alice Kelley
Johnson, whom he married in Cris-
tobol, Canal Zone, in 1929, and an
8-year-old daughter, Suzanne.
Was to Be Promoted.
1t. johnson attended the Uni
versity of North Carolina for three
years before entering the Naval
Academy. He was placed on the
naval list of ieutenants selected for
promotion to the grade of lieutenant
commander less than three weeks
ago and was accumulating time
necessary for the actual promotion
at the time of his death.
Delay in Finding Wreckage.
Residents of the Norbeck area
said they heard the screaming"
motor of the ship shortly after II
o'clock, followed within a few sec
onds by "an awful crash" and
muff1ed explosion.
Police and firemen from Silver
Spring and Rockville, Nd, and
other Searchers were unable to To-
cate the scene of the crash for
nearly an hour. At least another
hour went by before the ship was
identified
A smashed stick, about the size
of a broom handle, was picked up
/ by Montgomery County Police
| Chief Andrew H. Newman on the
edge of the crater dug by the diving
plane. The piece of wreckage bore
the markings and serial numbers Of
the United States Navy Chief New
man rushed to telephone about a
mile from the scene to notify Navy
officials.
! Latane Smith of Glenmont, Md,
said he glimpsed the plane from Nor
beck just as it disappeared over the
edge of the woods some distance
away. He said from the sound OF
the motor he judged the ship was
wide open"
Appeared Out of Control.
Two other witnesses, Richard Mott,
an attendant at a Norbeck filing
station, and James Nelson, an en-
ploye at the Manor Club, who was
at the station with Mott, said they
heard the roar of the planes motor
and saw the ship as it passed into
the binding rays of the sun and out
again just over the horizon.
DR.. r. L. Paxson, manager Of
Silver Spring drugstore, said he saw
the plane pass over his house, located
about a mile and a half from the
scene of the crash, shortly after II
o'clock, and that it appeared to be
coming from a southeasterly direc-
ton but turned back.
ut seemed to me that the ship was
out of control" DR.. Paxson said, and
I was almost deafened by the
screaming motor as the plane
plunged toward the ground. When
/ reached the scene, there was Moth
ing to indicate the type of plane.
The small pieces of wreckage were
still flaming"
TIE Navy salvage crew located one
of the three propeller blades in the
huge crater left by the impact.
Area R0ped of.
]
wreckage were found hanging In
trees and bushes several hundred
feet from the point Of impact.
Only trees Immediately adjacent
to the crash point were clipped by
the plane, indicating that 1t was vir-
tually in a vertical dive when 1t
struck the ground. Mud from the
creek bed was splashed into the tops
of nearby trees, more than 80 feet
high.
Within a few minutes after the
wreckage was located, more than
200 spectators gathered at the scene.
Police roped off an area within q
20O-foot radius and stood guard
inside the ropes to prevent tamper-
ing with the bits of wreckage.
The hydroplane in which 1t. John
son crashed last July Sheared OF
tree tops in East Potomac Park be-
fore plunging into the Potomac near
Highway Bridge.
The accident occurred shortly after
1t. johnson left the Naval Air Sta
ton in the observation ship. He
was accompanied by Donald z. Ross
of 2413 M street NV, a Bureau of
Standards technician.
The two were rescued from the
hydroplane by men who went to
their aid in a motor boat from the
Yacht Basin at the Washington Air
port. The plane was Salvaged by q
"crash" boat which put out from
the Naval Air Station when OBJ
servers there saw the accident.
1t. johnson was treated for