Evening star., 1946-10-05
Mass Funeral Rites
For 3o in Air Crash
To Be Held tomorrow
BY the Associoted Press

.. BY ths. Associated Press
! STEPHENVILLE, Newfoundland
Oct. 5.-Mass funeral services will
ae held tomorrow, In an airplane
flying over the scene Of the worsl
commercial aviation disaster ir
history, for the 80 persons who per.
sShed Thursday in the crash of ar
American Overseas airline trans
port.
I Protestant, Catholic and Jewish
clergymen will conduct the services
as their plane circles the scene
1.-The victims will be buried in mass
Grave.
z A similar service was conducted
from an aircraft flying over the
wreckage of a Belgian Sabena Air
liner which crashed near Gander
airport September Is causing the
death of 27 persons.
) Probers Sift Crash Ashes.
= Veteran investigators of the
Omitted States Civil Aeronautics
Board sifted bits and pieces of the
four -engined airliner to attempt to
learn why the craft hurtled head
on into 1,200-foot wall of rock.
"It Is the worst in my 81 years
experience" said George Gay, re-
gional CAB chief, after visiting the
scene of the tragedy.
From eyewitness accounts and the
flame-fused remnants of the Ameri-
can Overseas airliner the probers
fashioned this version of the crash,
the worst in commercial aviation
history: The plane was a DC-4
Douglas Skymaster. It had stopped
overnight at Harmon Field on the
Southwestern coast of Newfound-
land because of bad weather at
3Gander Airport, across the island.
/, A crew of eight and 81 passengers
were aboard. The tanks had been
filled with 1890 gallons Of high
octane gasoline for the long overseas
hop to Shannon, Fire.
+, Craft Rose Normally.
| The ship took OF at $50 am,
Newfoundland time, about 80 min
utes before dawn. The ceiling was
5000 feet, with 10 miles visibility.
The plane used a runway pointing
In a northeasterly direction toward
a range of rock-capped mountains
8 miles distant, which range up to
1900 and $500 feet.
Ground crews watched the craft
rise normally. with an estimated $50
feet of altitude before it reached the
end of the runway. The ship contin-
ued to gain altitude and held to a
straight course. Suddenly great
billow of flame flared into the sky
and cascaded down the stone face Of
the mountain. There had been no
indication the ship had been in
trouble.
1t. Robert A. Nolan of Dunn
Loring, Va, fire marshal at Harmon,
left Immediately in a crash truck
with eight Newfoundland firemen
and Sergt. Glen Baker Of Okla
homa City.
"The sky was so red and the
flame was so big we, thought it
was very near" he said. But we
had to walk 8 miles after we left
the truck"
Led by Newfoundland hunting
guide familiar with mountain trails
/ nthe vicinity, 1t. Nolan and his
party reached the wreck in 81
hours.
1--WE could only find two bodies,
one was a man the other woman.
She had a purse and there was
a handkerchief with Peggy on 1t,
Nolan said.
The bodies have been identified
rs Joseph Percy Of Woodmere,
N. Y, and Helen Kent Downing
of Thomson, Ga.
There just wasn't a trace of any
one else," said Nolan, gesturing
blankly with his hands. "It was
awful. Just little bits of fused
metal and that big black smear
against the rock.
1.-TWO sacks of mail had been
thrown quite a way from the plane
They weren't even seorched. There
was half burned suitcase full OF
baby clothes"
6 Children Among Passengers.
The passengers included six
youngsters ranging in age from II
years to months, bound with their
mothers for Frankfurt and Berlin,
presumably to join soldier husbands
in the Occupation Army In Ger
many.
Flight experts calculating the
ships altitude and distance from
the take-off point estimated the
speed at $50 miles per hour.
"It seemed to have hit just under
the lip of the cliff" 1t. Nolan said.
about so feet more and the plane
would have been clear"
Mormon Leader Calls