Henderson daily dispatch., 1946-12-28
Trans-Ocean
Craft Wrecked
Fire Airport

&Nfhs AAAhL NHEB-
Trons World Always Officials
announced that IL persons
three crewmen and nine pas
sengers - were killed when
the Constellation Stor Of Cairo
crashed and exploded on q
river isle near the Shannon
Airport early Saturday.
List of Dead
ELEVEN other persons aboa I'd
the plane have been hospitalizcd,
with at least two in serious con-
dit'on. the announcer said.
The plane was enroutc from
Paris to New York.
The dead passengers were listed
as:
Cierc. Simonc Lucienne. Paris.
Drayfus. Pierre. New York.
Koegel. Herman, New York
Lanyon. Allan Charles, Wash
ington.
Picard. Maurice Simon. Flush
ing. N. Y.
Pugh. Clementine Jeanne. Phil
adelphia.
Pekelis. Alexander H.. Larch-
mont. ". Y.
Salabert. Francis Joseph, Paris.
Iclaznagora. Marie, New York.
The dead crewmcn were listed
as:
Burmcister. Herbert, flight en-.
ginecr. Washington.
Mcbride. Walter. flight engin.
Ger. Alexandria. Va.
Mrs. Edith Augustine Delaby
who with her four and hall
month old baby was flying to he,
EXCL husband in Newark, N. J..
was with the child in a bospitoi
ut Limerick. Both were in grave
condition.
Survivors not suffering from
burns. cuts or fractures were be
ing treated for shock.
we have not been able SC
far to determine how the crash
happened, TWA spokesman
said.
Fell In Swamp
The Constellation plowed into
tiny Mclean Island. n swampy
weed-covered patch with only one
house. and scattered burning
wreckage over hundreds OF wards
OF water and bogland shortly af
ter A. NJ. % p. m. Friday EST
The scene is about two miles
from Shannon Airport.
Personss on the mainland who
heard the crash rowed out to the
island in flatbottom boats and
brought survivors across the
Shannon's tributary. the Fergus
River. to be put into ambulances
and hurried to Limerick hospit.
ais.
Capt. Sidney p. Harrington OF
Holyoke, Mass. Pan-Americar
Anyways flier who helped in the
rescue, brought back a report OF
the worst wreckage ever saw"
the survivors included five.
month-old Charles Delaby, bound
for New Jersey with his 2O-ycar.
old French mother TO Join his
soldier father.
The hostess. Miss Kay Fergu-
son, %. OF Jackson Heights, n.
Y, who was rescued early. said
the baby's mother was killed but
Paris TWA officials said they I'M
dcrstood the mother. who was
identified as Edith Augustine Del
ably. had survived.
A doctor who gave first aid
before survivors were loaded into
ambulances said that most OF
them were severely burned or in
jured otherwise.
The wreckage. said witnesses,
was scattered over hundreds OF
yards OF water and bogla nd
around tiny island with only one
house.
Rcscuers toiled for hours to
reach the scene and laboriouSly
retrieved each survivor. To get Ia
their boats. they floundered
through wa,#t-deep mud at low
tide both going out and coming
back.
The airport in mid-morning was
virtually deserted. Nearly every
available man still was searching
among :hc widely scattered
wrcCkagc.
The first undiscovered surviv-
OF brought in by hastily organized
rescue squads was the hostess
Miss Kay Ferguson, %. OF Jack
son Heights. n. Y.
II had just told the passengers
20 fasten their safety belts foi
landing when the accident occur
rcd" Miss Ferguson said while
being treated for shock and cut,
on the foot at the airport.
B My God, I've never seen sucf
/ wreckagc." said Capt. Sidney y
Harrington OF Pan-Amcrican Air
ways. who led one rescue pa rty
He said other survivors brought
across the Fergus in small boats
had been loaded on ambulance,
waiting to rush them to Limerick
hospitals.
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