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


An official board of inquiry to-
day was investigating the posi-
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, Is, of Vallejo,
Calf, who served as a pilot over
seas in 1944-5.
I Described as seriously injured was
Ii. j. C. Martin, 27, of Chickasha,
Okla, a fight engineer.
Adding to dramatic night,
through part of which commercial
i flights were grounded, was the talk
ing-in' of twin-engfned Beech
craft at National Airport at almost
the same time the CAT crashed
A short time later the National Air
port radar directed a B-25 bomber
to safe landing at Boiling Field.
Officers at the field said the giant
tWin-engined ship, Army version of
the commercial DC-3, was coming
in under icy conditions shortly
after dark, with visibility about 3
miles and the ceiling approximately
600 feet, when the crash occurred.
1t was returning with cargo from
the military depot at Rome, N. Y,
completing 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 it 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 a truck on which was
mounted an instrument landing sys-
TEN, 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 a 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
boots" which are intended to pre-
vent dangerous. crusts OF ice from
forming on lifting surfaces
Crewmen who suffered minor in
jLries were:
SfSergt. z. 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 1t. R. E. Polak, 81, District
Heights. Md, taken to Andrews
Field Hospital.
First 1t. H. N. Hunter, "a. the pilot,
whose mother lives at 91S Eight
eenth street NV. He was removed
to Boiling Field Hospital.
EXpl0des and Burns.
AS the plane struck the ground
after its final few minutes of wild
fight 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 Gre
ated by the split.
1t was necessary for Andrews
Field flremen and crash crews to use
acetylene torches to cut through a
tangled mass of wiring, instruments
and aluminium before they could re-
move the dead man. When it was
discovered he was still fastened by
his safety belt, pocket knife was
used to free him.
The plane left Andrews Field for
Rome at 1882 am. to pick up it's
cargo which was described as being
of fragile nature. 1t was due to
complete its round trip at about
6:25 pm, when the crash occurred.
Cargo Strewn Over Area.
Many of the parts composing the
delicate cargo we're in little red
boxes, strewn over the area. A few
were opened, and the parts were
found to be undamaged.
Military police guarded the scene
against entry of unauthorized per-
sons as the emergency crews worked
to extinguish the fire under the
handicaps of the heavy rain, deep
mud and freezing temperature.
The truck with the instrument
Landing system, which was sta
toned near a roadway within the
field, was badly damaged. The other
unit was short distance from
the other side of the roadway. No
one was near either the two units.
Parts of Plane Scattered.
Route maps, cabin seats, pieces of
fuseiage and propeller blades we're
scattered over the crash area, mute
ly indicative of the violent force
with which the plane struck. The
ships two engines were smashed, al
though they did not break from the
fuselage. The tip of the right wing
was partially snapped off.
The craft was based at Andrews
Field.
1t. Curtis was commissioned in
1910 and served more than year
overseas as fighter pilot. He was
born August rs. 1922 in Kansas. His
widow and 2ha -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. c. He
enlisted at Boiling Field in July
1910, and subsequently became al
staff sergeant and crew chief. He
then became an aviation cadet att
Canyon, Tex, and received his wings
at Pecos, Tex, in April, 1945. He
and his mother have been living
here since 1884.
1t. Martin enlisted in 1912 and