Evening star., 1942-05-02
II Die in Crash
OF Air|iner Near
Sa|tLakeAirport
Victims Include Two
Naval Officers on
Duty in Capital
3. the Associated Press.

sleeper transport plane plOuSIleC
into a storm dashed ridge within
sight of Salt Lake City's airport
late last night, killing IA pas
sengers and a crew of 3.
George Benton Gearhart, watch
man at an inn on the highway about
a mile below the site and first to
reach the scene, said one man liveo
for a few minutes.
All others. including one infant
apparently were instantly killed.
List of Those Aboard.
The United Air Line office at Sar
Francisco issued the following list
of passengers and crew aboard the
airliner:
Capt Donald w. Brown. pilot, San
Francisco.
Harold Miner co-pilot, San Fran
cisco.
Neva Cantwen, stewardess, San
Francisco.
Comdr. John G. Burrow, U. S. N.
Navy Department, Washington.
1t. d. g. Clare Tucker. U. S. N,
Navy Department, Washington.
Marvin Shapiro, Chicago. soldier
on leave.
1t. Herman J. Frankenburg, U. S
Army. Wichita, Kans.
J. Kershisnik, Cheyenne.
Mrs. j. A. Lloyd and year-old in
FAINT, J. A. Lloyd, jr., Burlingame
Calf.
c. r. Drenk, Fruitvale, Calf.
Almond D. Herb, Massachusetts,
Institute of Technoiogy, Cambridge
en- route to Boston.
NJ. L. Patterson, Bogota. N. j., gen.
eral sales manager of the Sperry
Gyroscope Co., of Brooklyn.
F. B. Vose, Freeport, N. Y, aero
nautical sales manager of the Sper-
ry company. Both were en- route to
New York.
r.. P. Barrett, en- route to St. Louis.
Mrs. j. Palermo, Cleveland.
C. M. Cole, San Francisco, Inter
national Business Machines, en-
route to Buffalo. N. Y.
Scars on the ground indicated the
plane struck on the edge of shall
low gully near the summit of the
ridge, approximately AZ miles from
the airport, destination of the east
bound San Francisco transport.
Wreckage Over Wide Area.
Wreckage was scattered over a
wide area. Some bodies, mangled,
were thrown clear Others lay in
the debris. Bodies in the wreckage
we're charred by a gasoline-fed fire
that f1ared up as the big liner
smashed against the rocky slope.
One body, entirely nude, lay in the
bottom of the gully, untouched by
fire.
One wing, broken off, came to rest
parallel to the ridge. The other
pointed toward the valley.
The crash scene was only short
distance from Ensign Peak. which
Mormon pioneers climbed in 1847
for a glimpse of the then barren
valley they had chosen to settle.
Mr. Gearhart said he watched the
plane circle and glide along the
ridge, apparently headed for the air.
port. Airlines officials said visibil-
ity was good. Mr.. Gearhart said a
light rain was falling, but the clouds
were high and he could see the
planes wing lights.
Lights Seen to Bounce.
Il watched the plane fly along
the mountain and saw it hit.
could tell it hit the side of the
mountain because the lights in the
plane seemed to bounce.
About two of three seconds after
the plane hit, there was a huge
flash and the plane began to burn. u
Mr.. Gearhart estimated 1t took
him 25 minutes to reach the scene.
He found one man alive and tried
to talk to him.
Il think the man knew I was
there but couldn't talk He opened
his eyes. He was groaning and
waving his arms. I found some
blankets near the wreckage and
covered him up. l looked around to
see if any one else was alive"
Finding none, Mr.. Gearhart re-
turned to the inn and called officers.
A wind-driven sleet storm which
bore out an earlier published FORE
cast was in progress on the noun
tainside, but the fire was clearly
visible from long distance. Only
light rain fell in the valley.
Plane Was Circling Valley.
The ship had come in from San
Francisco for landing at 1881
pm, mountain war time, and was
circling the valley. A crash crew
from the airport, police and fire de-
partment rescue crews were quickly
on the scene.
City officers borrowed four wheel
drive Army trucks in an effort to
negotiate roundabout road to
bring out the bodies. Mud begged
down regular equipment.
A guard was established through
the early morning.
No one could offer an explanation
of the crash. but the Civil Aero
nautics Board at Washington or
dered four investigators to the
scene.
They are:
Robert X Hoyt, assistant director
of the safety bureau of the board !;
Ralph Reed, senior investigator
Fort Worth, Tex; William Andrews,
chief of the accident investigation
section, and Perry Hodgens, investi-
gator at San Francisco.
The airline's last passenger IA
tSee PLANE CRASH, Page A-2D
Mild 7emnernturee