Evening star., 1947-12-11
Andrews Field
Probes Crash
Fatal 10 One
Ice on Wings Believed
Cause of CAT Wreck:
Five Are Injured
BY Harry Lever

bility that heavy icing on the
wings of a CAT Air Force cargo
plane caused it to crash within
1000 feet of a safe landing at
Andrews Field late yesterday,
killing one crewman and injur-
ing five others.
Trapped IN the plane and killed
was I'd 1t. Carl Curtis, rs, of Vallejo,
Calf, who served as a pilot over.
seas in 1944-5.
Described as seriously injured was
Ii. j. c. Martin, 27, of Chickasha,
Okla, fight engineer.
Adding to dramatic night,
through part of which commercial
flights were grounded, was the talk
ing-in' OF a twin-engined Beech
craft at National Airport at almost
the same time the C-47 crashed.
A short time later the National Air
port radar directed B-25 bomber
to safe landing at Boiling Field.
Officers at Andrews Field said the
giant twin-engined ship, Army ver-
sion of the commercial DC-3, was
coming in under icy conditions
shortly after dark, with visibility
about miles and the ceiling ap-
proximately 600 feet, when the crash
occurred. It was returning with
cargo from the military depot at
Rome, N. Y, completing a one-day
round trip.
Chunks of ice on the wing and
tail surfaces of the wreckage sub
stantiated the theory that this
caused the ship to lose altitude
quickly as 1t neared runway 10
where 1t was to land from a south
erly direction.
When it was about 1000 feet away
and after narrowly missing some
trees, it struck truck on which was
mounted an instrument landing sys-
tenn, careened violently out of con.
troll through the heavy freezing rain,
struck mobile ground control sys-
tenn and crashed into deep mud near
the runway.
The field officials said the plane
started to land from $500 feet, was
brought in fine on the approach"
by ground control system and
appeared to be doing okay." But
when the ship broke through the
600-foot ceiling, something went
wrong" they said.
One of the things the Board Of
Inquiry is expected to investigate
thoroughly, it was said, is the opera
ton of the planes electric de-icing
device.
Crewmen who suffered minor in
juries we're:
S/Sergt. E. J. Rysyk, Is, who lives
at Andrews Field, taken to the base
hospital there.
T/Sergt. j. F. Ewers, Al, crew chief,
whose wife lives just outside the
east gate Of Andrews, removed to
Boiling Field Hospital.
First It. R. E. Polak, ~, District
Heights, Md, taken to Andrews
Field Hospital.
First 1t. H. N. Hunter, "a, ths pilot,
whose mother lives at 918 Eight
zenith street NV. He was removed
to Boiling Field Hospital.
Explodes and Burns.
As the plane struck the ground
after its final few minutes Of Wild
flight it partially broke in two Just
behind the pilots section, exploded
and caught fire. The flames shot
eerily into the dense murk, while
Sergt. Rysyk clawed his way through
the cargo door. The other injured
men scrambled out Of the hole cre-
ated by the split.
The plane left Andrews Field for
Rome at 1852 am. to pick up its
cargo.
The truck with the instrument
Landing system, which was sta
toned near roadway within the
field, was badly damaged. No one
was near it at the tipe.
The craft was based at Andrews
Field.
1t. Curtis was commissioned In
1910 and served more than q year
overseas as fighter pilot. He was
born August 26, 1922 In Kansas. Hfy
widow and 2h-year-old child live
in California.
1t. Hunter is the son Of Mrs.
Johnsie B. Hunter, who is employed
IN the Veterans Administration
Medicine and Surgery Section. The
officer, who Is "a, was educated at
Christ School, Arden, N. G. Ha
enlisted at Boiling Field in July,
1910, and subsequently became a
staf sergeant and crew chief. He
then became an aviation cadet 1T
Canyon, Tex, and received his wings
at Pecos, Tex, in April, 1945. He
and his mother have been living
here since 1894.
Took Part In Bikini Tests
1t. Martin enlisted In 1912 and
was commissioned the following
year, serving with the 10th Air
Force in the China Burma india
theater from April, 1914, to April,
1945. He took part in Operation
Crossroads. the Bikini atomic bomb
experiments, and now is squadron
adjutant Of the 4th Maintenance
and Supply Squadron at Andrews
Field.
S/Sergt. Rysyk, a pilot during
the war. was born In Newark, N. j.,
Ia May, 1922. Commissioned In
1914, he served in the European
theater for seven months, returning
to this country in May, 1945.
T/Sergt. Ewers served overseas
as a crew chief from 1941 to 1914.
He was born in April, 1906, In Ken
tucky, and has been In the Air
Force since 1910.
For the first time since GCA
(ground control approach) was in
stalled at National Airport last
summer, 1t was put to emergency
use last night.
Joe vivari, the Civil Aeronautic
Administrations senior trafflc con-
troller at the airport, brought an
ice-laden Beechcraft in safely, di-
recting the pilots course by radio.
The directions were formulated by
position of the plane on the radar
screen.
The planes pilot and only occu-
pant, Nick Carofanello, %, Of Brad
ford. Pa, was completely helpless
| to land without aid. The windshield
was coated with ice and visibility