The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-02-24
20 STILL MISSING
IN PLANE. CRASH
Four Bodies RECOVERED;
! Air Pocket Blamed for
Tragedy, Claiming "a

Lisbon, Feb. 24--CUP)--The yam
kee Clipper hit q treacherous air
pocket, causing 1t to plunge into the
Tagus river as II came In for q
landing Monday night, Pan Aneri-
can Always officials said today in
explaining the crash which cost
"A lives.
Captain r. o. d. Sullivan, skip
per Of the giant seaplane, said 1t
ran into q thunderstorm at the end
Of the flight from the United States
and suddenly went out Of control.
Sullivan, so, Of Sanford, N. O., re-
fused, however, to speculate on the
cause Of the crash. He was inter-
viewed at q hospital, and said he
had nothing broken but my heart.
OF the 10 known survivors, all
but three were out Of danger. -Four
bodies had been recovered from the
Tagus, and the river was being
dragged for the 20 missing passeng-
ers and crewmen.
Among the missing were Tamara,
Russian-born American stage and
night club singer, and two war cor
respondents-Ben Robertson, Jr.,
81, Of Clemson, 8. O., on assign
ment for the New York Herald
Tribune; and Frank j. Cuhel, Ce.
dar Rapids, Ia, Of the Mutual
Broadcasting System.
Its left wing wrenched of by the
crash, the clipper hoated about 10
minutes. The swift current Of the
Tagus broke the plane in two and
the pieces were found 1000 feet
apart some four miles east Of the
Pan American pase.
Jane Froman (Mrs. Donald Ross,
night club and radio singer, sur
vived the crash, though her right
arm and right leg were broken and
her face badly bruised and
scratched.
In a brief interview Miss Froman
said she struggled under the water
and reached the surface because II
suddenly said wouldn't give up"
when I hit the surface I tried
to swim, and then saw the head OF
somebody to whom I called Who's
there?' He replies This Is your old
first mate Burns POSSIBLY fourth
officer John @. Burns, "a, Of New
York city,.
"I'll never forget him. He told
me to put my arm around his
shoulders and we swan toward
shore. was very weak and not
much help. Finally Burns said he
saw O floating object.
when he managed to grip some
thing which held lis above water,
felt my leg and touched several
inches Of bone. A Portuguese boat
picked us up and we were taken
to hospital"
other survivors included Jane
Froman (Mrs. Donald Ross, radio
and night club singer; Elsa H. Sill
yer, singer known professionally as
Yvette; Olga Whitkowska, New York
City, night club accordionist known
as Gypsy Markoff; Mrs. Jean Rog-
man, New York City, Of the dance
team known as Lorraine and Rog-
nan; Miss Grace G.. Drysdale, New
York City puppeteer; and William
w. Butterworth, American diplo-
matte official, washington, D. O.
All but Butterworth were members
Of O USO entertainment troupe that
also included Tamara, who in pri-
vate life Is Mrs. Erwin D. Swami,
wife Of q New York advertising ex-
ecutive, and Roy Rognan, husband
and dancing partner Of Mrs. Jean
RognaY,
Besides Tana and Rognan, miss
ing passengers included James N.
Wright of the state department,
Washington, D. O.; Arthur A. Lee,
Harrison, N. j.; Theodore w. Lamb,
Wayne, ILL.,, and Harry q. Seidel,
Surrey, England.
Grew members rescued included,
In addition to Sullivan, End Ohicer
william Osterhout, New York City:
4th Oftlcer John @. Burn, New York
City; Assistant Engineer william
H. Manning, ST. Adams, N. y; Radio
Officer David M. Snaders, Port
Washington, N. Y; Assistant Radio
Officer Robert j. Rowan, Flushing,
N. Y, and Steward Philip A. Cas-
perrin, New York City.
Missing crew members were Sd
Offlcer. Andrew e. r. Freeland. New
York City; Engineer Joseph T.
Vaughn, Flushing, N. Y; Steward
Craig H. Robinson, New York City,
and Navigator Leonard A. Ingles,
New York City.