Henderson daily dispatch., 1946-12-20
Passengers Unhurt
In Plane Collision

ABERDEEN, MD. n Split
second reactions by two pilots
were credited Friday with saving
the lives Of SIS passengers and
crew members OF two Miami
bound airliners which collided
1000 feet in the air near here in
- accident unprecedented in
American commercial air travel.
None of the passengers suffered
so much as n scratch, although
both planes were damaged in the
collision, which occurred in clear
weather shortly after dark Thurs
day night.
Scraped Over Top -
The copilOt of one. a big, four
cnginci Del Eastern Airlines
craft carrying So passengers. said
he saw the other. two-cngincd
universal airlincS CT. approa CHI
ing from the left three of four
miles north of Aberdeen. He pulled
his ship up ut the last instant and
scrapcd over the top of the uni
verSal plane, Eastern officials
said.
The co-pilot. r. Brown. OF Mi
ami. said he had Just second or
two in which to avert disaster,
The pilot OF this pla:rc. j. BKuhn,
also of Miami. told reporter,
Brown saved the day"
a thrcc-by-tive-foot hole was rip-
NOD u shn q,
plane, while the universal liner.
carrying % passengers and a crew
OF three on a charter flight, had a
hole driven into the upper portion
OF the fuselaEc, its escape hatch
wrcnchcd free AID its radio and
hydraulic system knocked out of
commission.
Despite the damage. Henry Nor
ris, Of Cambridge, Mass, pilot of
the universal ship, brought il down
safely n: h Aberdeen proving
ground field. while h e Eastern
plane was landed u-rvertfullv by
Kuhn before waiting crash-wa9o CONS
and firc-engines at National Air
port, Washington. DC.
The fourengincd De-, cruising
ut about 230 miles an hour. APP
pareNly had overtaken the slower
aircraft. II had stared from New
York. while the universal plane
had taken off at Newark. NJ.
Little Confusion
Occupants OF both planes, mostly
vacationists and business men. re-
ported little If any confusion at the
time of their narrow escape, AID
most said they had been unaware
OF the extent Of their danger. All.
however. had lavish praises for
crew members.
One grateful survivor of the
Eastern plane, Ben J. Slutzky, of
Ellenvillc. NY, announced he was
presenting $500 to the crew ard
invited other passengers to a sur
vivors' party" at Miami night
club.
Miss Joan Cotton. 24-year-old
East Orange, Nj, stewardess on
the Eastern plane, acclaimed by
the passengers as n heroine for
avcrting panic. said she was dis.
tributiJS Christmas cookies when
the crash occurred.
ut nearly tossed me through the
roof" she recalled. Zone passcn-
ger woman. started to scream
and then stiflcd IL. but that was as
close as we came to panic.
Passengers Pray
Most Of the passengers were
alternately praying and asking
questions. I fastened their safety
belts a:1i kept saying. everything
is all right l tried TO think of
something else TO say, but that
vas all that came out.
when we finally landed, and
the passengers saw the big hole in
the front section. some OF them
started praying all over again
and this time they were prayers
OF thanks"
Officials OF the Civil Aeronautics
Board. who questioned he EAL
crew in Washington for hours after
they landed, said II was the first
time in American commercial air
history such an accident had &C.
Cured between two planes headed
in the same direction.
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